Restless Wind
by CrimsonRosen
Summary: Aoki Haruna can talk to ghosts. She wanted to believe that to be the only unnatural quirk in her life but, she wasn't looking forward to changing her mind. Eventual oc x Kurama. UPDATED/REVISED.
1. The Ghost Problem

**The Ghost Problem**

_In an Afterlife,_

_Progression is not over_

_In a life; it waits._

I blacked out for a few minutes before I opened my eyes to many pairs of worried ones and a throbbing headache.

"Haruna, are you OK?" That was my classmate, Fujishima Mayu. I think she was the reason why I knocked onto the concrete. I stood up half way while holding my head as I met the eyes of my gym teacher, Izanami-sensei. She has very black short hair, just above her chin and a figure that kept true to her occupation. Lean but not overly muscular. Light tanned skin. Track is her favorite sport.

"Aoki, do you need to go the nurse's office? You shouldn't have ignored Fujishima's throw of death." Then I heard Mayu apologizing for her ball throwing technique. But I didn't blame her at all for my throbbing headache. I gave myself a push to the floor to get myself to stand. The small gym group of girls surrounded me in case I fell back again.

My head was throbbing, still. I was angry but not for the reason why anybody in the group would assume. I tried to not show the frustration I had on my face. I forced a small smile, "The nurse sounds like a good idea." My teacher gave a nod. She didn't think I was trying to skip out on gym. Which was partly true.

Izanami-sensei turned to my classmate. "Since you did the deed Fujishima, you should take her. Make sure she makes it to office in one piece." Mayu eagerly nodded and took one of my arms around her shoulders as we walked back into the school building.

I heard sensei telling the whole team to go back to the game. There were a few whines but the coach straightens them out with her authority. My head ached because of a game of dodge ball.

Mayu helped me walk me down the hall towards the nurse's office. She apologized once more.

"It's OK. My brain is not going to kill me," My tone was friendly and airy. I didn't want her to feel as sorry as she did. "Besides, it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention. And you were supposed to hit me- it was part of the game."

Mayu still felt remorseful but she gave me a small smile. "I guess you're right. You had the weirdest look on your face and it wasn't because the ball was coming at you!" Mayu is one of my 2nd year classmates in Meio High. We haven't gotten too many days into the new school year but we connected through our involvement with sports in this school. We knew each other from last year because of it. She is an all around nice person, with her medium length dark brown pigtails and big eyes. Only until you take her to gym class and the tennis club. She is one of the best girls in most sports and a competitive face to match.

"Weird…face?"

She chuckled, "Yeah! Weird! Your head and eyes were looking at the boy's side." The whole class played on separate courts for the sexes. "You are usually more focused when we play!"

She was right. I knew better since I had been a student part of the track team in Meio High since last year. I had grasp of the competitive nature the students who joined the sports clubs. Mayu was part of the Volleyball team so I to not pay attention to her throwing a ball was a dumb move. Most of the time, I was catching the balls to get the opposing girls' team out of the game. But an unfortunate thing distracted me today.

"Do you have the hots for one of the boys in our class?" Mayu mused with mischief. I had a feeling she was going to try to get the bottom of my unusual sporting behavior today.

I sighed, "No. They're not worth looking at, Mayu-chan."

She gasped as if I was out of my mind. "But you were looking at their direction. And how could you say 'they're not worth looking at'? I like to believe we have some good looking guys in our group." She sounded proud.

I rolled my eyes. Mayu already knew that I didn't care much about the opposite sex. She noticed how I interacted with the boys in my Track team. She assumed correctly that I was indifferent. Even though I explained to her that they were my teammates. And that's what they were to me. The boys in our class are our classmates and that's what they were.

"How did you not notice Minamino? He looked like he was playing a fierce game. Such concentration…" I glanced to my side and saw her cheeks become a little tint of pink. If anyone had the hots, it was her. It was an excitable moment when I found out that Mayu was in my class with me but what excited her, and she told me in confidentiality, was that Minamino was in our class as well.

"Does Minamino have a secret admirer?" I jeered weakly since my head continued to pound. But the words were strong enough to her on their own.

Her shoulders went tense under my arm. "Don't tell him! Not a soul!"

I really liked Mayu. She was different from me because she could be shy around people but her shyness melts away when sports are involved. I had comprehended that we are friends because I had passed by the Volleyball court after I had finished my laps for the afternoon. That was when I saw her amazing volleyball skills. It was like she had always had a volley ball on her as an accessory. She told me she had been playing since middle school. Then at that point, the forced she used when she was returning the ball from over the net, she accidently didn't realize that her form caused her to turn over and land harshly on her back on the opposing team's court. The game stopped at the moment when my expression froze. Without thinking, I ran to Mayu with just as much concern as her teammates. The sempai of the volleyball team wondered what I was doing here but before I could explain, Mayu opened her eyes and said: "I won!" Afterwards, the explanations were explained, and we began to talk more.

I placed a hand over my ear. "My brain is all in a mess. Maybe I'll go up to him and tell him." My tone was serious and I glanced at her as if her secret was so important that I must tell the appointed person. A second later I laughed before she made an objection. "I won't tell him anything; Minamino probably already knows."

"Haruna-chan!"

"Hey, it's possible. He probably also knows that we are talking about him right now." I said with a grin.

She glanced at me as she frowned. "Are you sure I didn't hit your head too hard?"

My composure softened into a drained smile, "It's up to the nurse."

**/\/\/\/\/\**

Mayu left me at the office and hurried off to class then I was told to lay down on the white bed and sheets with an ice pack on my forehead. The nurse told me that my skull did not crack when I fell on the pavement. In a humored tone she continued to say that it was not to be expected since the skull was strong enough to deal with it and if I just laid here until the pain went away I could make my way to change out of my gym clothes and go to class. She also suggested untying my ponytail of long black hair to lessen the tension on my head.

I stared at the wall. The nurse allowed me quiet when she pulled a curtain to my left and walked outside of the office. She said she would return in a couple of minutes. I took a deep breath. I was frustrated.

"I must've looked stupid when I stopped moving…" I told myself.

"You did." (Or so I thought.) A voiced responded with jest. I could feel my headache worsen. There was a translucent materialization of a person happening above my view of the ceiling. The translucent person grinned at me.

"It was only a little joke. I thought you would laugh at my surprise!"

"Go to hell, Seiichi." I grumbled. Obviously I knew him. And obviously, I was not happy to talk with him.

The translucent person pouted, "I wouldn't be here if I was."

You see, Seiichi was a ghost. A restless spirit stuck as a wandering ghost. He had been in limbo for a little over a century since his style of dress when he died was in armor-less dark blue kimono and he his top-knot was chopped off. His black hair limped short by his phantom cheek bones. He looked he could in his mid or late twenties. For why he had been limbo for so long, he never mentioned it. He is a baffling ghost but he enjoyed teasing me. He has a carefree nature and was hardly the spooky type. He had his serious moments too. The samurai nature graced his personality when it needs to in his belief.

And you're wondering how I'm vouching for a ghost? I have an abnormal talent of being able to see and talk to them.

"Why did you make me look at you when there was a ball aimed at my head?" I asked in aggravation. This was nothing new of Seiichi. But he appearing at school to make a showcase out of me was a new tactic from him. We had established an understanding that he wouldn't appear in school unless it was an emergency, not as his leisure.

He sat crossed legged as he floated above me. He thought he did nothing wrong. "Wanted to try something new."

I glared at him. If someone where to walk in this office right now and heard me talking to this ghost, they would think I was crazy. Most people can't see much less hear ghosts. "Seiichi."

He peered down at me then sighed. "You seem to be at low spirits when you are in school," He said. "I thought a surprise from me would change your mood."

I scoffed and then turned to my side on my bed, looking away from him. "Damn right it changed my mood. I'm pissed that you made a fool out of me." I closed my eyes wishing that he was gone. I felt a quiet drift. I opened my eyes- BAM- and there was the ghost samurai staring back at me. I frowned and furrowed my eyebrows.

He said with the most solemn face, "You have pretty eyes, you know."

I tossed to the other side as I took my ice pack and hit the side Seiichi was on. Of course, he wouldn't feel the impact due to his transparent form. I heard him grunt. "I guess redeeming myself is going to take more work."

"Damn right." I muttered.

Suddenly, the office door was opening. Seiichi had an understanding when to leave a room when a person comes in. But for some reason, he wasn't moving from a spot above me. I anxiously whispered, "This is your cue to leave!"

"Hmm, don't feel like it right now." He ruminated.

"Is everything all right, Aoki?" My body jolted to sit up right. It wasn't the nurse's voice. It was a male's. I was nervous but I tried to keep myself together. I hoped he didn't hear me taking to Seiichi.

"Uh, yeah! Fantastic!" With a gentle pull of the curtain, I saw the owner of the voice. I was surprised by my unexpected second guest. The guy greeted me with a smile plus a bag in his left hand. "Oh. It's you, Minamino. Where's the nurse?"

He rubbed the back of his head as he recalled, "She had an urgent phone call in the principal's office. She saw me on my way to lunch and asked me to bring this for you. I didn't have much of a choice." He walked over to the side of the bed and handed the bag to me. I looked inside. It was my light red colored school uniform. In comparison to Minamino's, it's bright instead of the subdued color the boy's uniform had. It almost reminded me the color of fuchsia. I moved my clothes in the bag and found an apple and a bottle of water.

Minamino spoke to answer my unspoken question: "She also mentioned those were for you in case you still had a headache." I couldn't help but to smile at the gesture. The school nurse did her job well.

"How is the head by the way Aoki?" His voice was smooth with humane sympathy.

I nodded. "Better, thank you."

He tilted his head a bit and looks at me curiously. "I saw what happened. It's not like you to be so…unguarded." My eyes darted a second towards Seiichi then back to Minamino. I made a nervous laugh. "_Could this situation be even more uncomfortable? He's waiting for an answer. Wait. What's so uncomfortable about that?_" I thought in a rush of nerves. I needed to come up with a response that didn't involve the supernatural being floating in the room.

"I...um, saw something strange on the boy's side of the court. It took me by surprise. Henceforth, Mayu-chan's throw of death was upon me before I could notice it." It wasn't completely untrue, but why tell Minamino that a ghost appeared in front of me without any pretense?

Minamino was one of my classmates just like Mayu-chan. And if it wasn't already obvious, I don't know him very well. Actually I believed this was the second time we actually exchanged words with each other. The last time we "spoke" was I had asked him to excuse me when I had to run down the hall to bring equipment for the Track team. But Minamino was someone that our class recognized as the polite, aloof, and un-Japanese looking high achiever. You would think he would be made fun of for the unique physical features he had such as his green eyes and his long dark red hair, though, for the most part, he was highly respected by the students and teachers alike. Do I respect him too? In a sense, yeah, sure I do. His cool exterior I can respect but at the same time, lying to it almost seems criminal. Why I believe so? I shrug as my answer. This was the perfect time to not think of consequences. The conclusion I can give you was that his manners were well-controlled and pleasantly polite.

He allowed my story to sink in. As smart as he was considered to be, he'd better buy it. To my relief, he made a thoughtful nod. "I see. What was it?"

I shifted my eyes to him then towards the resting bed trying to think the best way to finish my lie. "Um, a pretty sparrow flew by the trees on your side of the court." I held my eyes unto his and made my lips twitch into a smile. "It was a sparrow I never seen before. It looked exotic!" I could sense Seiichi containing his amusement.

His eyes widened to my enthusiasm. "You must like birds a lot, don't you?" He smiled. Then he made a quick bow, his hair shadowing any expression on his face. "I hope you will recover shortly Aoki." With that, he walked away from my quiescent space then the door clicked closed.

I breathed out with all the air I held inside of me. "Thank you, Kami-sama." I looked over to Seiichi to see him with a frozen blank expression. I wasn't worried so I took out the apple the nurse left in the bag and chomped on it, letting the sweetness of the fruit fill my mouth.

"He gives me the creeps."

I finished my whole bite of the apple before responding to him. "Why should he? I know he can be so freakishly cool from what I see. Is that the creepy part?"

I took another bite of my apple. Seiichi was silent. He was usually a chatty ghost. I shrugged thinking he was having a profound moment. It wouldn't be the first time. I just finished my fourth bite when he decided to speak again. "I think he knew I was here."

"Yeah, right." I said off-handily. Like I said before, most people can't see ghosts. I took out the water bottle that came with the apple. I was beginning to open the top. "He probably sensed you. Some people are sensitive to their surroundings. You know that, Seiichi." I drank my water thirstily. I did not realize that I was so dehydrated.

"He saw me Haruna!" He exclaimed, "His eyes…His eyes were looking at me!" I quickly swallowed my water down to giggle. "I'm serious. Haruna, I swear." His form came down to meet me at eye level. He was solemn and he showed that to me by his stare with his light brown phantom eyes. My eyelids lulled half closed. "Are you sure? Calm types are hard to read sometimes. It might've seemed that he _saw_ you, which he didn't, and merely _sensed_ you." I stressed. Being able to see ghosts in their full form was a rare ability. People were close to spirits, especially to those that they knew personally in their living life. It gave them comfort when they existed in flesh no longer.

But I hardly ever saw Seiichi paranoid. Yet, I wasn't worried. Minamino hardly seemed threatening, I think being able to see ghosts meant he was aware of the many supernatural beings that exist in this world. Not something a lot of teenagers were in-tuned with or cared about. But since he was collected in nature, I have trouble taking that possibility out of my mind. Great! Now he has me paranoid too!

I glared at Seiichi. "Just stay out of his way. He's only a classmate. Getting people involved with what isn't 'normal' is what my uncle and I try to avoid." I said, "We can't have people in harm's way. You know that there are scarier things than you. The less he knows and comprehends…the better." I looked down at my water bottle. Two thirds of it was gone. "Hopefully, he thought it was a hoax."

Seiichi looked uncertain. But I told him to hurry along his way because I was going to change out of my gym clothes then into my uniform.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\**

The rest of the day went smoothly. The nurse came back shortly after I was ready to leave for class. She apologized for not tending to me. The phone call was about her father. He had been in the hospital for a heart transplant and was in recovery. She told me her father had issues with the heart in the morning and her sister was keeping her posted. She didn't have a cell phone at the moment so she asked the principal's permission to keep alert of the office phone for her. I wished her the best of luck.

Besides half of my gym class and lunch, I made it for math and chemistry. I saw Mayu in both classes. She was happy to see me clear-headed. I also spotted Minamino. I ignored him since Seiichi's revelations were still fresh in my head. Then I felt by the end of the class that I should just forget about Minamino because the only thing I was able to remember about chemistry class was that the atomic number for helium was 2. Does that sound like an accomplishing student to you?

**/\/\/\/\/\/\**

When I finished with Track team practice at the end of the day, I said bye to everyone and gathered my things and left for home. Seiichi had finally given me the space I needed after the stupid stunt he pulled. I felt a little lighter walking home alone since Seiichi also started an unnecessary panic about Minamino. I swore with his personality, almost anybody should be able to see him!

As I walked, I noticed a couple of spirits wandering around the crowds when I crossed the streets. With the "talent" I had, the spirits that wander around the town were almost considered as the human citizens that were around me. For the most part, if I left them alone, then they would exchange the favor for me. Most of them don't notice that I could see what they do. My "talent" didn't have much to it, really. There were other parts to it but you might learn about them later.

"_Hmm, how strange?_ " I thought in mind with vague interest. Normally, there are not many wandering spirits where I live. Most of them are taken through the River of Styx and are judged accordingly. I have noticed lately that there had been a bit more of poltergeist activity going around. So far, it hadn't looked a high concern to me; therefore I kept on walking to my home like I do any other day.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\**

Home. Home was in an apartment building. We lived in a building with 3 floors and 5 apartments on each floor. I lived on the second floor at the 5th apartment, down by the end a hall. I unlocked the door to enter.

"Sounds like she's home." I heard as I was closing the door. The voice was from my uncle, Nobu. I removed my shoes and left my black massager bag by the doorway.

By instinct, I looked to my left and became aware of a cooling steam coming from a tea kettle in our small kitchen. "Is someone else here, uncle?" I walked steps away from the kitchen (our apartment wasn't that big) and witnessed my uncle, plus a guest, sitting on the floor across from each other at the coffee table (mind you, coffee was hardly brewed around here).

"Hello Haruna." The visitor greeted with a tea cup safely held in his hands. My eyes gaped at him in suspicion for his visiting. The visitor wore a short sleeved blue robe with a long white undershirt tied together on his waist with a red sash. The black trimmings on the edges of the blue robe made it look elegant on his slender shoulders. He wore brown pants underneath the long robe. By looking at the face, he looked like a teenager. Dark brown, short hair, his bangs parted at the middle revealing a black 'Jr' mark. Light brown eyes. Between his teeth was a light blue pacifier. Oddly enough, he spoke normally even with the accessory there. A red cape was wrapped well around his neck and shoulders.

My uncle's left eye looked at me then back to his tea cup. "It's rude to stare Haruna." My uncle said roughly, his arms crossed around his chest. I hurriedly gathered myself.

"I-its nice to see you again, Koenma-sama!" I made a curt bow. As important as this guest was to us, he was a sign that something bizarre was going on. He normally doesn't make house visits. A visit usually meant he had to tell us the information himself instead of sending a messenger. I glimpsed at the off-white curtains that were closed over the window behind Koenma-sama.

I heard him chuckle. "No need to be so formal, Haruna-chan. I expect that from my subordinates. I think you would be capable of teaching them a thing or two as a matter of fact."

"But I had always called you 'Koenma-sama,' um, Koenma-sama…"

"Koenma-sama, you can tease Haruna later." My uncle looked over at me, "Have a seat Haruna. He came here for business." My uncle, Nobu, was not your typical, elderly person. He might seem like it by a glance but he's a sturdy man. His skin is pale and he had full head of black hair turning gray. He wore a white undershirt and black fighting slacks (this was how he looked on an off day). He is a scrawny-looking 177cm but don't let that fool you; he had a rough life. The easiest clue for that was a black eye patch he wore over his right eye. That eye was blind (according to him, I have never seen what his eye looked like underneath the patch). His left was a narrowed dark gray eye and his face was hardened with sharp edges. Despite his strong gait, his voice could be sweet or intimidating, depending on his mood. Right now it was coarse and authoritative.

I took a seat on the wooden floor by the back of the coffee table. My uncle turned his gaze towards Koenma-sama. "Bring her up to speed. She might be able to give you some insight."

Koenma-sama took a sip of tea from his cup. "As you are well aware, when someone dies their spirits is removed from their bodies then Botan takes them to Spirit World for judgment." I nodded. Koenma-sama is the prince of the Spirit World so he was in charge to where the souls go to. Botan-san was his personal assistant as the grim reaper. "But on occasion there would be fixated ghosts that were too stubborn to move away from the Human World. They have reasons to being attached to the living. Sometimes they find resolve, other times they don't. It happens." Setting his tea on the table, he moved a bit forward on the table, towards me. His eyes were solemn. "Have you noticed lately that there had been more spirits in the Human World?"

I paused a moment before responding. I don't understand why all this was important. "Yes. I have. They don't seem to be bothering anybody though."

"That's not the problem. The problem is the increase of ghost activity. More souls have been fixated in the Human World. Botan had been having a hard time because these ghosts are impossible." He closed his eyes, "These ghosts have actual weight on them." He moved back to sitting straight and drank more tea.

"Koenma-sama is worried of this being the work from people that can control spirits. Their free will." I turned to my uncle and saw him stare at his tea in its cup, pensive.

My heart began to race. I enclosed my hands as I glanced at Koenma-sama. "Why would that be happening? That doesn't make any sense."

With a stern voice he told me, "Necromancy."

I stared at Koenma-sama in disbelief. Necromancy was the practice of bringing the dead from the grave and this practice could also include being able to have different degrees of control on ghosts. But this practice was also…rare. In the Ningenkai, anyway. It's a practice that held complex rules and needs plenty of spiritual energy to commit to it.

"Do you know who it could be?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even and not have my anxiety show.

Koenma-sama sighed, "Unfortunately no. People who know such a craft are usually good at hiding." He continued, "The fortunate part is that both you and Nobu here might be able to find a clue to about it."

I turned to my uncle and he smiled, "This time you are going to be useful."

"Useful? Me?"

"Yes." Koenma said.

I turned my head completely to the prince. His eyes were smiling. Not an overly optimistic one but one with sincerity. "I would like you to try to talk to some of these ghosts you see around you. They haven't been responding to Botan and I can't influence them." He said. "Hopefully, you can also try to get some information about this necromancer at work."

"I-I don't know." I stammered. It was one thing to have this ability of being to see and talk to ghosts as they were people down the street. It was wholly another to actually go up to some ghosts and ask them: "Have there been a necromancer in town?" I worried because necromancy also could make ghosts do uncharacteristic actions and cause harm. Something like that sounded unpredictable.

"Do you have any leads?" Uncle asked to Koenma.

"According from one of my associates, there had been rumors from—" He coughed, "_that other world_, of those possibly involved. It's not certain if they possess the dark art but it's always nice to have something to work with. I'm sure you can appreciate that Nobu." He took his final drink of tea from his cup. "I contacted the spirit detective that I told you about and Botan was able to get in touch with some friends of his as well."

_That other world…_ I had to suppress a shudder because I knew what world he was talking about. It was the Makai. A place I am not very fond of. Koenma-sama and uncle knew my feelings about it and tried to not mention about it. I had my reasons.

And Koenma-sama also mentioned "spirit detective." He talks to uncle casually about the spirit detective and all I know that he was male and works for Koenma-sama. Uncle knew more than I did.

A smirk appeared on my uncle's face. "Do you think it's wise to have Haruna involved with the spirit detective and his friends? Oh, I don't know? The type of _company_ he keeps?"

Koenma-sama's face seemed unsure.

"I have no doubt in Haruna in being able to getting the job done and also having the detective there in case the mission does become more than it should be." I stared at uncle and his expression to me said, "go ahead, ask the question."

"What do you mean by _company_, uncle?"

He grunted, "The boy is friends with demons. That might be a problem for you despite the fact that they have been proven to be loyal."

Koenma-sama's uncertainty was apparent on his face. My guess was that he was more worried about me about my possible meeting of another's demon acquaintances than the mission now.

"I am not sure if the demon population of the group would be joining in this. They are only told to be kept aware. It's only a possibility, Haruna-chan…"

My lip twitched. Yes, it was a fact that I don't like demons but Koenma-sama was asking me for help. Time to show off some pride. "I'm still in, Koenma-sama!"

His eyes looked at me in surprise, "You will still do it even with the possibility of working with demons?"

I smiled and I hoped I feigned doubtlessness, "Yup!"

Uncle made a soft smile as his single gray closed. "Looks like we prepare for tomorrow night, Koenma-sama."

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

**A/N: **Don't pay mind to the way I'm breaking up my chapter... The lines don't always work for me. :T Anyway, after quite a long time since I have updated this story, I have decided to thoroughly examine and edit it. So I hope those of you who have read this story and are now seeing the update, like the changes I did to it. As for the other chapters, they are also being changed at the moment. The story is definitely going to be different from before but the concepts are most likely to stick the same or a similar way. I hope you all could agree with me that this is an_ improved_version! :)


	2. It's Obligation

**It's Obligation**

_An uncertainty_

_Quickens the pulse of a heart_

_Duty is the word_

It was bed time. I was dressed in a two-piece sleeping wear that were colored in dark blue. The top was a button down with short sleeves and the pants covered most of my legs until my ankles. The spring weather was good night sleeping weather. I turned off the room lamp and settled myself in bed. I tried to fall asleep like I usually did but my eyes were being stubborn tonight. I stared at my blank ceilings that were hued by grays and blues from the reflection of the moon through my window. I did not know what to have in my mind. Nothing felt safe to contemplate on. I suddenly felt a familiar draft coming into my room.

"Is sleep a problem tonight, Haruna?" It was Seiichi. He came back from where ever he drifted off too.

"Mmm…"

"I will take that as a yes?" He floated next to me and sat crossed-legged next to me. "Nobu told me about the mission for tomorrow. Are you worried?"

"Not as much as I was before. I'm more worried about demons being involved."

"Ah, yes." He mused, "Your demon _phobia_."

I turned on my side opposite from him. "I wouldn't call it a 'phobia.' I'm not that terrified; I just don't like or trust them…"

The draft shifted again. Seiichi was kneeling on floor on the side that I turned to. His face eye-leveled with mine. He placed a ghostly hand over my head. He made the motion of stoking my hair and by his touch, it felt like a comfortably cold wind which moved as his hand was willed.

"Not all demons are bad. But I do wonder how you would react to the demons the prince had in mind that you _might_ meet."

My eyes widen a bit in the semi-dark. "You know who they are?"

"Perhaps," Seiichi grinned.

I glared at him. I knew his game far too well. "But you're not going to tell me?"

"Haru-chan, sometimes its better not to know. And the prince said it was only a possibility that you would meet them and…" his voice became quietly stern, "honestly, I wouldn't trust them either."

"And sparing me would be the best decision?" I asked him, trying to obtain substantial information. I don't like the feeling that he knows something important and I don't. His smile returned on his facial presence.

He closed the conversation by saying: "Go to sleep, Haru-chan. You have school in the morning and I noticed you were having trouble with chemistry."

He only called me "Haru-chan" when he was either trying to be kind or had to lessen weight on something important. I had a bet on the former. Though, my eyes were lulling closed from the busy day; all that had been thought and happened hardly seemed so relevant anymore.

"Oyasumi nasai, Haruna…"

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

A dreamless night was interrupted by a horrible buzzing from my small, black, rectangular alarm clock. Just about every morning I make an exasperated slam on the button to shut it off. It was no different this morning. The clock blinked 6:01 am in eye anti-friendly red. I yawned. Every morning I run for training for the track team and uncle insisted on it. My mind was on automatic when lifting myself from my bed and passing by Seiichi sleeping formless form by my door frame. He always slept sitting up as long as I knew him. I never bothered to ask why. I guess it was because I just thought of him using his samurai instincts. He was sensitive to sound and movement. To my sound and movement, he was used to and could easily identify. I yawned once more, stretched and continued on to my morning rituals.

After an energy-induced run, I came home alert. It was only 6:34 am according to my wrist watch. I opened the door and saw breakfast ready but my attention quickly shifted when I had to dodge a choke hold that was inched too close to my neck. My body faced the door way from inside the apartment and it none other than my endearing uncle.

"Ohayo, uncle…" I deadpanned.

"Ohayogozaimasu, Haruna." Uncle said with enthusiasm, "Your reaction time is getting better each day!" He nodded in approval. I rubbed the back of my head.

"I guess. But what is the point?" I already knew the answer but I felt like humoring him.

He made a slight grunt that vibrated from his throat. "You never know what could happen. And it's good for a woman to have decent instincts."

I yawned as I made a right arm stretch, "Sure, uncle. Whatever you say. You went a little easy on me today."

Ever since I turned 11 or 12, uncle would spring random traps and attacks on me. And if it was an attack, he never harmed me enough that it would hurt but would cause a pulse in my brain. Having a water bucket waiting for you at the other side of the door was no laughing matter in this household. Being covered in water meant that you were not trying hard enough.

He walked over to the counter to take his portion of breakfast. "You are part of a mission today. I think that is enough for training outside from school goes for today."

Then I stretched my other arm, "Mm. I doubt its going to be life changing. Is Seiichi awake yet?"

Ah yeah, I had forgotten to mention, didn't I? Uncle could see Seiichi just as clearly as I could.

"He is." He walked over to the "coffee table" and settled our breakfast. "You know better than to assume, Haruna."

I sat down with him on the floor, at his left from the table. I made a smile, "I'll be aware uncle; it's not a big deal."

We gave thanks before we took our chopsticks to start eating. I took my first my bite when my uncle decided to speak once more, "Unless the demons were involved. But I'm sure you will get over it."

I stopped eating for a moment and looking at my bowl, I asked, "Do you know the demons that I might meet?"

He ate a bit and chewed before responding, "Personally, no. Stories, yes. In these circumstances, I would decide to lend at least a little trust."

"I will try if it happens. Otherwise, that is not a promise I can make, uncle." I told him in a settled voice. He nodded in understanding. We finished our breakfast then uncle broke to me that he had to leave this morning to meet up with Koenma-sama. He said to me that he would return close to sunset to see me off later. With that, I went to the bathroom to take a shower and prepare for a half-day of classes.

By a 15-minute walk, I was by the front gates of Meio High. Today was just another Saturday until the sun sets. But I felt ready to deal with school first and was prepared. If wearing my bright red uniform, my messenger bag and I having my long, black hair tied to the low left of my head wasn't prepared enough, I didn't know what was. My bangs were actually neat since I decided to bother with it this morning. The days that I chose to manage my hair are close to random.

Today was a random day.

The first bell had not rung yet.

I was early!

I walked through the halls and made it to my homeroom at 2-A. There were a few reflexive glances towards me as I walked in then the students went back doing what it was that they were doing. The homeroom teacher wasn't here yet so the class was scattered around. The students were either talking, eating breakfast if they didn't have the chance before, doing last minute homework, and a few were sleeping quietly and out of sight. Mayu-chan waved to me from the right-middle desk that she sat at. I walked over and greeted her with the same wave.

"Ohayou Haruna-chan!" she beamed.

"Ohayou! Mayu-chan, you look like you are in a super good mood today." I tilted my head slightly wandering what could be the occasion.

She smiled then she motioned her hand to have me come closer to her. I bent towards her, our noses nearly touching. "I saw Minamino coming out of the nurse's office when I was walking to class yesterday. And last I remembered, weren't you resting in there?" Her expression was sweetly suspicious.

My eyes widened and I remembered that it was smarter than not to be cautious when interacting with Minamino. Gossip likes to spread around fast, especially anything about our class genius. And I use that term loosely. He only gets the best grades in this whole school when it came to exams. Near perfect. He does exceedingly well in every class. I didn't really know this much before until Mayu-chan started talking about him when we have time to talk. I was pretty oblivious for a student who had him last year and Mayu-chan just had him as a classmate on this one. When I told her that fact, she felt it was her duty to keep me up to speed of what was going on with him and anyone whom she deemed relevant. I am failing to recall other than Minamino.

My left black eye brow arched. "It was nothing. He was doing a favor for the nurse since she was occupied and he happened to be there to do it for her. Nothing happened." Mayu-chan inched closer to my eyes to check for sure that I wasn't lying, "Honest! He gave me the bag the nurse sent him with, he asked me of what happened in gym, I told him what happened, he bowed and left. The end." I explained as easily as if I was explaining what I did this morning, which, would've been harder because I had to walk around the 'my uncle trying to choke hold me was completely normal because he likes to test my instincts' event. But in this story, I only had to cut off the samurai ghost paranoia part. She wasn't going to think that I left something out. Right?

"What is he like, Haruna-chan?" She asked me, excited. I blinked. I think I just understood what was going on here. 

"Mayu… You have never spoken to Minamino? Not a word?" Her instant reaction of a tint of pink on her cheeks confirmed it for me.

I scratched my cheek in thought. "Then, talk to him. Say hello. Say how are you feeling today? Say how is the weather? _Something._ He's nice enough, I think. What's weird about two classmates talking to each other?" She looked unsure. Her brown hair in loose waves and her eyes expressed emotions as if you were looking through a clean, untainted mirror. Mayu-chan looked cute and innocent. I think I saw her eyes sparkle…

The door from the class door opened again and without moving my body, my eyes diverted to the person that just arrived. Minamino. He looked as he always did— He walked in with his great posture, the ends of his long, scarlet hair in flicks and a calm aloofness as he took his seat by the corner, next to the window. I thought about his seat for a minute and the first time I realized that his seat would be one of the first ones you were to see if you were to enter this classroom and kept your eyes straight ahead. Unlike Minamino, there were a few students that were aware that he was definitely in the room and that reflexive look would linger just a few seconds longer before it would go back to its former attention.

I whispered close to Mayu, "There he is. Go ahead and say something." She wouldn't move from her seat and I knew the teacher would be here at in about 5 minutes. I grabbed her arm as discreetly as I could so it would look like she was just following me compared to it seeming that I made her get up. I wanted to do this quick before anybody in the class begins to take note of what we were doing.

I barely have ever said anything to Minamino myself but I thought it was ridiculous that she hasn't told him a word since she liked to talk about him. It didn't make sense to me. Then again, half of the things people do in this world would hardly be comprehensible in my mind. Socializing wasn't a skill I knew well. What I'm doing now was this: I had an uncontrollable impulse to have Mayu-chan make her own opinion of Minamino without asking me by those two to exchange words.

_If you understood me, even just a little, I would just hug you. _

Minamino had his desk set up for the upcoming class and was reading a book. I think it was for leisure because it didn't look familiar. Even though he seemed occupied, his green eyes peered from above the literary pages when I stood in front of his desk.

"Ohayou, Minamino." I said with a smile. He placed the book down from his reading space. He returned the pleasantry.

Very quick bit of info: I refused to call Minamino, _Minamino-kun_. No. I can't stand the way the honorific sounded with his surname. It made me cringe whenever a girl (especially if she had a high pitch voice), to say his name like that. He never seemed to mind. I do try to hide my extremely formal side at school because I wanted to blend in for the sake of not attracting attention. Yes, make a clingy friend and then they might get the chills to wet themselves when ghosts are around me. I told you, Seiichi, school was not for you.

"Ohayou. Ah, how is the head today Aoki?"

"It's fine. It wasn't a concussion." I nudged at Mayu-chan next to me to talk.

"O-ohayou, Minamino." She said in a low voice and her vision was directed to the floor.

His eyes turned to her, his head tilted to the side slightly, "Ohayou Fujishima. Are you alright? I barely heard you."

"Ohayou!" I ducked her down because if the class wasn't as loud as it was, I swore everyone would've heard her.

I hissed between my teeth at her, "Idiot!"

Minamino's eyes perked up by her startling second chance of greeting him. Then his composure came back. He made a cool, collected smile. "You must be well now, Fujishima. That was quick improvement."

By the corner of my eye I saw the teacher coming in; quickly I made a bow to Minamino and dragged Mayu back to her seat and my own. My seat was behind hers. Compared to Minamino's, I was two seats to the right and three seat to the back away from him. She whispered to me a thank you before the teacher finally had everyone's attention for roll call.

Class time flew by since it was a half a day. It was weird when I suddenly realized that I hardly thought about the mission I have to do later tonight. I wondered if my mind was working under a defensive mechanism without me knowing. I read that it could happen. Regardless, I stretched my arms as the final class bell rang; I got myself ready for the _o soji_. (A/N: In case if any of you didn't know what it is or don't remember, when classes ended in Japanese schools the students would gather and help each other to clean the homeroom and the school. You most likely saw this being done in Fruits Basket, if you have read/watched it. ^^) My duty was to clean the board, erasers and help move the desks out of the way. Doesn't that sound like fun?

After _o soji_, Track club went by in a blur. This entire day did. Was there a side of me that was looking forward to this mission? The feelings of doubt still lingered but I tried to remain optimistic because I literally had no expectations unless demons became part of it.

I gathered my things and began getting ready to wait for uncle at home. By the shoe boxes, as I was switching my inside shoes for my outdoor ones, I noticed there was a folded piece of white paper inside one of my shoes. I blinked a couple of times before carefully taking it and opening the fold. What I saw was neatly written kanji and hiragana and oddly enough, it seemed ambiguous to me:

あなたが見つけるかもしれないことに注意してください_。_

Anata ga mitsukeru kamo shirenai koto ni chūi shite kudasai.

And I not recognizing it meant anything. The only writing I knew in this school were my own and Mayu's. I do not memorize the hand writings of my teachers when I get marks. Who does that?

It said: _Be careful of what you might find. _

I read it softly to myself, "'Be careful of what you might find…?' What is this suppose to be about?"

"Could that be a warning?" My whole stiffened by the extra voice. I looked to my shoulder and ended up making a hop away from my left.

"Seiichi! What I told you about personal space in school?" I swiftly searched all around me to make sure that no one was around or close by to hear me. It seemed like I left the Track team a little later than I expected. "I hope you have a good excuse this time." I gave him the expression that I hopefully expressed: "you better not give me games today."

His ghostly form stood in front of me as he was a live person. His arms were folded over his not overly broad chest; his short hair partly covered his left eye. The blue kimono he wore was perfectly displayed on his form. His face was pensive as if he was waiting for something. He at last spoke: "Nobu-san sent me to tell you to do the search on your own first and by around 21.00 (9 pm) you are to meet the detective and one of his friends. I suppose partner would be more accurate. I have the location memorized." Seiichi calls my uncle with the _san _honorific when it's business-related. Just like what this mission was— another form of business.

I mulled the information over. Afterward I asked, "Why the change of plans?"

"I will tell you at home." His hazel eyes stared at the breast pocket of my uniform where I stuffed the note I found. "Who gave you that?"

"It was in my shoe locker. I don't recognize the hand writing at all," I shrugged nonchalantly, "let's not be suspicious."

Seiichi tilted his head slightly to the side and smiled eagerly, "_Let's_!"

"I'll think about it. _Let's_ worry about tonight." I asserted for us to go on our way home.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

At home, it felt hallow without uncle here. This wasn't the first time uncle wasn't home when I arrive back from Meio, but it was just today I felt a dash bothered. I left my school bag by the door as I always did and went into my room to change out of my uniform. Seiichi stood outside of my room, likely leaning against my door.

"Nobu-san did also want to apologize for not being with you right now. His part of the mission is different from yours."

I took off my uniform jacket as he said this and I began debating which top to wear. "Seiichi, I'm used to it. Uncle did used to serve under Koenma-sama and Enma-sama. And because he did so, he would occasionally help Koenma-sama here in the Ningenkai when his skills were needed." Seiichi knew the story just as well as I did, but maybe repeating the circumstances vocally to him and to me would ease the temporary emptiness. "Most people who quit working for the Reikai wouldn't still do missions."

"Remember, Haruna? He does these missions out of his own free will. When his duty as an exorcist was called for, how could he not do it?" I had made up my mind of what clothes to wear. It wasn't too difficult; half of my closet was taken over by my uniforms.

I sighed, "I know. I just worry when he comes back from those missions."

"I feel this mission is not that difficult on him compared to you. This would be a good time to worry about you." Seiichi always spoke strongly about duty.

I opened my door to signify to Seiichi that it was safe to enter. Yes, he was like any ghost and was able to go through walls and objects at will but opening the door was more obvious compared to yelling from the other side. Did any of you worried that he would peek on me as I changed? Despite his personality, Seiichi had some of his version of morality left in him. Not once he ever made an effort to peek on me whenever I changing or taking a shower. And when he's in the room, his eyes would be shut. Never once I felt he lied about this dignity from him. He had a reason. He was almost twice my age when he died.

I was wearing a thick purple and white striped shirt and dark blue denim jeans. I didn't bother with my hair.

"You look ready." He looked over to the clock by my bedside, "Its 15.03 (3.03). That allows a great deal of time until evening."

"Hmm, it does. And I don't have the faintest idea of where to start." I crossed my arms to try coming up with a potential plan. "Koenma-sama didn't have much leads either. "

"Haru, that's the point. We are to find one." He leaned against the wall; his eyes wandered to the ceiling. "There had been a few strange ghosts around here lately. Something felt…out of it." His head came back to neutral position, his eyes slanted slightly as he gazed at the floor.

"Do you remember where? That could give us a start."

"It's about an hour walk."

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

Today was a seasonably spring day in Tokyo. The sidewalks and streets were slowly becoming filled with life. The children from elementary schools and daycares were being picked from their working and non-working parents. Others were shopping, socializing or perhaps wandering. No one was paying any attention to me and Seiichi walking around being aware of our surroundings. Seiichi doesn't count since he was invisible to everyone. There would be an odd person taking a glance back at me as I walked because she or he might've felt or sensed him. Luckily, most people have weak spiritual awareness. Seiichi was leading the way above me so he wouldn't be in contact with humans and cause one to feel like something was touching or watching them from afar. Spiritual awareness in humans could be the equivalent feeling of a sneaky stalker. That feeling when you just know that something was following you but you can't indentify it until you see it.

"The guy is near an alleyway that connects to a dumping area." Seiichi paused; I believed he was recollecting a memory. "It's close to some sort of machine place." In order to communicate with him without speaking out loud and without seeming like an overstressed and crazy teenage girl among these crowds of people, I would stop by a corner or off the side of the middle of the sidewalk somewhere to write in small black notebook that I carried with me. I casually walked over to the side and leaned against a street lamp pole, then I took out the aforementioned notebook from the side-strapped carrying bag I had on me along with a mechanical pencil. The bag was smaller than my school one.

I wrote to him, void of any perceptible emotion on my face so people wouldn't suspect anything off if there were people paying any attention to me: "Ma-chine place?"

Seiichi peered over my shoulder to read what I wrote to him. I kept in mind to write to him syllables instead of using the substituted kanji of certain things because they did not exist in his time. There wasn't a name, word or symbol for it. Seiichi had been with me for a while so he had caught on what things were in this time period but he would hardly remember the correct representation for them. It was that, and he also admitted that reading wasn't his best skill. I had to keep it easy for him. I also made sure to indicate the whole word by underlining the characters for each.

"I believe we passed by it a couple of times. It's that place where those kids go to play on machines? They put a coin inside of a machine and it becomes alive!"

I frowned; keeping my composure. I wrote: "The arc-ade?"

He stared at my written question as he sounded out the syllables a few times in order to locate a recollection in his memory, "T-that's it!"

Recollection acquired. He remembered when I would talk about it. Before going into my 2nd year of Meioh High, I used to stop by the arcade almost every Saturday. Classes or not.

Before he would think that I was completely done exchanging words with him. I tilted my head up and gave a momentary look with eyes to inform him that I was going to write something else. 

I wrote again but in the proper kanji this time: "Seiichi, you are an idiot." I closed my book after he read it and put the book away in the bag.

He crossed his arms. "_Excuse me_ for not remembering where you would go when you were slacking off from training and studies." I rolled my eyes. I thought it was no big deal to slack off on Saturdays. I wasn't able to so anymore after I was scolded by uncle when this new school year came around. It was during the summer that I slowly had to abandon the arcade. I moved from my spot to continued walking, and leading, since I knew the location now just as well as he did.

The arcade. I was faced of the shining lights of a place where imperfect teenagers know that studying all the time was a bust. Yet I managed to survive striving to have academic excellence that Meio High could deal with. My grades were on the average level, therefore, when they were posted on the wall, they could be easily overlooked. I felt that was good enough if you had a sight of the school's workload. The arcade had not changed; it felt good to be in near those shiny lights and recorded sounds again. I was tempted to go inside to play a game of _Tekken_ before Seiichi got my attention by calling out my name and pointing to the alleyway he was talking about. I halted the moment that my heart would become forlorn and pressed on to our destination.

The alley wasn't a narrow space but it was still small. Passing through the path, we ended up in the back of the arcade of where they would dispose their trash. This area felt strange. It was strange enough that I had to be near the scent of whatever was rotting in the large garbage bin a couple of meters away from me. This area held an air that made my skin crawl. By the naked eye, no one— nothing- was out here.

"Seiichi. Something's here."

From the corner of my eye he moved from the air to standing next me. "Haruna, look to your left." I did. My eyes were staring at a brick wall. Your typical red brick wall that was vandalized in gangster graffiti. My heart began to pulse a couple of beats quicker.

"Are you ready Haruna? Ready to see what I see?" Seiichi asked, unafraid. I nodded.

He flew backwards behind me then his arms surrounded my shoulders. The garbage alley became hued in a light of purple. The red brick wall that I was looking at before had a red circle spiritually painted on. Near it, someone was slumped on the floor. I took a step forward. Seiichi's arms held me a bit tighter. His arms weren't as translucent as before.

"_Careful_. The last time I saw him, he was constantly mumbling about nothings while he stared at the dumpster behind us. I thought he probably died suicidal or crazed. Now I'm only half sure." Seiichi informed me. There was still no fear but there was caution in his voice. The figure hasn't moved.

"We are going to find out now, then. He can't be that bad off." I told him, indifferently.

"Don't be stupid, Haruna." Seiichi mumbled. I walked slowly towards to the figure in front of me. All I was able to tell as I came closer was that his hair was black and short. This body seemed to be of someone that stopped growing and he died in his street clothes. I kneeled down in front of him to have a better look. My confidence wavered.

"Hey, um, guy?" I placed my trembling hands on his head to see if I could have a better look at his face. I felt a sensation down my arms. His eyes were closed. Blood splatters were covered throughout his face. A great deal of the blood seemed to had come from underneath his eyelids. Since he was a spirit, the blood wouldn't feel anything against my touch. But right now, in this state of spiritual seeing that Seiichi had brought me in, the blood had a cold, chilly, airy feeling. As if I was only feeling the blood from a close proximity without actually touching it.

The ghost continued to be motionless. I turned my head to my right, I asked to my poltergeist companion, "What could be wrong with him?" My voice soothed with sympathy, "I have never seen a ghost in this state before."

"He was attacked. By what, I can't tell you…" Suddenly something was changing. The circle brightened and the hole in the center began to turn noticeably dark. A black hand was reaching out of the circle. I jumped back from the limp ghost. The hand reached out further, and soon enough that hand was connected to a small body that jumped out of the walled hole. The entire body was shaped like a black flame with hands. The flame stared with large white eye sockets and a mouth to match. The flame stood in front of the ghost body. My body was frozen. Something about this thing was making me feel distressed in an exponentially fast rate. I couldn't speak. I simply stared at it.

"Haruna!" Seiichi called out to me. His voice sounded distant even though he was so close to me. "Haruna! You have to move!" I heard his words but they wouldn't reach to my brain. No, they wouldn't. The black flame with hands jumped back to the slumped ghost then disappearing within him. The bloodied ghost opened its eyes, they were blood-shot. That was when he stood up. The changed position made it obvious that the person the ghost belong to died young; he looked like he could've been a college student. The ghost came to me in a haunting slow pace. My brain was telling my body to move.

To self defend.

But nothing.

My nerves were frozen.

Blood cold.

I sensed Seiichi pulling me back. Eventually his spirit was talking to mine and my body was finally, but heavily, moving backwards. The possessed ghost continued to come towards me in a terrifyingly slow rate. The movement created the illusion of suspense that it could hurt me. But really, it _could._ Why wouldn't it? It was made to. It wants to hurt me. It wants to hurt me. It wants to- The spirit expanded its mouth before I heard a foreign cry. A far foreign cry. All of my senses became dark and heavy.

He was after my life…

**\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

**A/N**: I have intended to not have these chapters to be this long but...it just happened? I intended them to be a little shorter, but I am not going to start questioning the plot/writer bunny about it... Anyway, an idea I had earlier last week was to put a _haiku_ on the beginning of every chapter but I completely forgot when I posted chapter 1. Its there now, so if you feel interested to what the _haiku_ is. The _haiku_ itself could symbolize a number of things: a summary, an idea throughout the chapter, a character's feelings, etc. Its up to the reader, really. The story should be obviously different to its former chapter 2... Also, Haruna is not going to find out about Kurama being who he is until later on. When? Ah...can't tell you. ;) It'll happen when it does. And meeting Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei is going to be different too.

One more thing: Since lately I have been watching YYH in japanese and learning the language myself, I am going to have a tendency to put in Japanese words and habits. For example: How Haruna, Mayu and Shuichi talk to each other. Since they are classmates, I found out it might be a little too much to put _-san_ plus last name. _-San_ is better for complete strangers and people who just met each other. School classmates doesn't seem to be as strict with that kind of rule compared to a work environment. If I'm wrong with this information, you can let me know. And Haruna is a little old-fashioned in her upraising (I don't know if I portrayed that enough yet) so even though Minamino had been a classmate since year 1, she doesn't feel right to say _Minamino-kun _(obviously). If Mayu had wanted, she could've referred to him like that, but instead, she followed Haruna's lead.

Aaannnd, I think that's it! The translations for a few words I used:

*_Oyasumi nasai_- Good night, used only when going to sleep.

*_Ohayogozaimasu/ ohayo_- Good morning formal/informal


	3. Aura Talks

**Aura Talks**

_Darkness or in light, _

_Awareness surrounds us all; _

_But what did I see?_

It was really dark. No light was coming from anywhere. It was the essence of nothing. My brain contacted my nerves, which went to the ones in my eyelids. I felt them and they were shut tight. Then, my nerves and brain began to work together. My eyelids were beginning to exercise the tiny muscles that were there. My sight was becoming combined with colors and light. Everything was in a blur. My brain contacted my voice— it was hoarse but stable.

"W-where am I?" I managed to speak out.

I blinked a couple of more times. My vision was becoming clear. I was in-doors. The ceiling proved that to me. Right away, I sat up. I came to the knowledge that I was in a bed in someone's room. I took in my surroundings. It was a boy's room. I was almost sure, if not, then a very tomboyish girl. There were posters of baseball players, rock bands and martial artists. But not so many that were overwhelming the walls. To my right, it was the standard working desk you usually found in a school-enduring student. This student tries very hard or works at the lat minute when I observed the amount of papers scattered upon the desk.

While in my awe of this boy's or tomboyish girl's room, I whispered my fellow ghost's name: "Seiichi…"

In a flash, Seiichi came through the walls from outside of the room. He stopped in front of me as he breathed a sign of relief. "Haruna! That woman could see me and thought I did this to you! She was interrogating me."

"Huh? Who? What is going on here?" I placed a hand on my head, "Where am I?" There were footsteps coming from outside the door. It sounded it was from a hall. Seiichi wrapped his arms behind me as the door opened.

"I wasn't finished talking to you ghost boy!" A young woman then turned her attention away from him to me. Her eyes soften. "Are you feeling? You were unconscious."

She was a taller than me. She had long, perfectly conditioned, brunette hair and these unruffled emotional eyes. She wore a loose, light black sweater and jeans. The air she carried a borderline between rough and elegant.

Then there was another voice coming from the hall. Its owner revealed himself when he came through the door, just like the former.

"Sis! Where did the ghost go?" He looked at the woman then he turned to me, "Hey! She's awake." The boy that came in seemed more like my age and he was taller than the woman by a couple centimeters. The white undershirt he wore defined his broad physique. His hair stood out to me because it was a shade of either blonde or red that made it look orange. It was styled as a standard gangster-punk pompadour. His eyes were dark and slanted-shaped.

Seiichi held his arms tight around me. The woman stared at him, her eyes narrowed. "What kind of man are you to hide behind a girl, ghost boy?" I faced to my side looking at Seiichi then at the woman.

"You can see him?" I asked her, curiously.

The woman flipped some of her hair off her shoulder, "Yeah, I can see him. I see him even _better _now since he has his arms around you." Her eyes scrutinized me, "You're surprising me that you are not jumping up screaming." Her vision shifted again to Seiichi again.

The boy walked closer to me and started to search at both of my sides. It was obvious that he couldn't see my ghost friend hanging behind me.

"What's wrong with me?" he said, "Even with weak ghosts, I should still be able to know that he's here!" He was annoyed. After a couple of seconds, he allowed a defeated sigh. Seiichi glared at the boy with the knowledge that he wasn't being seen by him. He doesn't like being called "weak" for no reason.

"Baby bro, this is something you shouldn't beat yourself over." Her attention turned to me again, "Would you mind explaining? You seem familiar with that coward of a ghost behind you."

Before I could utter a word, Seiichi took one first, "I am not a coward, lady!" She wouldn't know what he would be saying directly to her, but she knew how to read lips and expressions, then that would be a different story.

The woman took steps closer and at that moment I held my hands up. "He's cool! Seiichi and I are friends!"

"Hmm." She placed a hand on her hip. "I don't know if it makes any difference if he had a name or not."

"Trust me! He would never hurt me! I mean…" I placed a hand on my temple and my voice trailed on in confusion, "I don't even know what happened."

"You collapsed." The boy answered. His expression became sympathetic. "I was on my way to the arcade when I saw you staring there at the back alley, all frozen stiff. I yelled out and that's when you just….blacked out."

I looked in the boy's dark gray eyes for a second, then I began to meditate on the order of events of how I ended up from outside from the alleyway near the arcade to his room. A nerve was struck before I thought further when realized I was using this boy's bed. This boy's room…

"Ah!" I leaped myself out of the mattress, "I was using your bed…ah, um, what was your name?"

A light tint of pink showed on his cheeks. "Kuwabara Kazuma. I-its no big deal. You were unconscious…" The older woman walked to me; lightly grasped my shoulders to sit me back down on the bed.

"He's right. And to complete the pleasantries, my name is Kuwabara Shizuru. Do you at least remember your name?" She moved a step back away from me.

"Yes… I'm Aoki Haruna." I motioned my head to the ghost behind me. "That is Seiichi."

He lowered his head. "It's nice to meet you. I guess I have to be careful what I say around you."

"_Aoki?_" Kuwabara-san asked, surprised. "Botan-chan told me about you!" He turned to the older woman, "Sis, this was who Botan-chan was talking about before! You know, the girl who can talk to ghosts?"

"Good to know that you didn't bring in a total stranger. Let me bring up something to drink, then." Shizuru-san walked out of the room, her brown hair wisped lightly behind her.

Kuwabara-san took a seat at his desk chair in front of me. "Yeah, Botan-chan gave a description of you to keep an eye out."

"I see. Koenma-sama did tell me that Botan-san informed the spirit detective and some of his friends…" I paused. Wait, was he one of the-? No. His aura doesn't give me that feeling. Actually, I am feeling nothing at all.

Kuwabara seemed to have caught my pensive expression. He became concerned. "Is something wrong?"

I couldn't stare into his honest, slanted shaped eyes. I stared at my fingers instead. "Do you possess…" My words unconsciously became a whisper, "reiki, Kuwabara-san?" In my experience, it's almost embarrassing to not be able to sense another's ki. My uncle berates me sometimes when I don't notice such things. If he heard me ask me out loud to this boy, he would probably start lecturing me. Without moving my head, I glanced at Seiichi and he seemed unsure himself. He wasn't mocking me.

Kuwabara-san crossed his arms; his eyes, shifty. He allowed a sigh that sounded defeated then his face expressed this weary strength. "Promise you wouldn't tell anyone? Shizuru is the only one that knows right now."

I shook my head. My bangs were in the way for a moment so I blew them by the corner of the right side of my mouth. "I don't even know the spirit detective's name, Kuwabara-san."

"My reiki is gone." He told me, evenly, "After coming back from this thing called the "Dark Tournament" and sleeping in for a day, it didn't come back."

I blinked once at his turned head. He was having trouble admitting all this out loud a little. _A prideful guy_, I surmised.

"It must've been one hell of a battle." My focused openly turned to Seiichi. His expression was a rare essence of sympathy and empathy. He understood what the boy was feeling about his ki loss.

"What kind of battle could cause that?"

"Eh? It was—" Kuwabara-san stopped mid-sentence when he saw my attention was to my left.

"A life draining one." Seiichi released his hold on me, becoming a translucent presence once again, he continued, "A battle that would take every inch of the spirit to gain victory."

"Hey! Is the ghost guy sis was talkin' about still there?" Kuwabara-san asked with frustration causing him to furrow his eyebrows at Seiichi's direction. I turned my head back to him.

"He stays around me the majority of the time. How come your sister could see him?" I asked that question and leaving the other one in my mind: does she also possess _reiki_…?

"She has a 6th sense too. Mine kinda went with my _reiki_." He sighed.

"If it makes you feel any better, Seiichi feels your pain."

Shizuru-san came back with tea for us on a plastic serving plate. I told her thank you and by the moment Kuwabara-san said the same, she told him that he had slacked enough and needed to continue catching up on the homework he had missed since he was away. Kuwabara-san tried to argue but something about Shizuru-san's expression meant immediately that there was going to be no debate. Then she switched her attention to me and said that I should get some rest before I decided on leaving the home. Her voice to me was calmer and less authoritative in comparison but after seeing what she did to Kuwabara-san, I took her advice without resistance. I finished my tea then went to sleep.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

I dreamt… It was memory resurfacing, vibrating into my consciousness.

The first memory was during _o soji_.

The majority of the class was already gone to club or was doing outside of classroom duties. Mayu-chan had finished her part. She said to me that she had to rush to her the gym for volleyball. We said our good byes there. I was doing my part of clapping erasers. No one ever wants to do because of the chalk dust so I chose to be the one. After a while, it felt like a duty. While I was focused on this mindless task, I heard something behind me. My body turned to the attention of the noise, my eyes widens to the source; it was Minamino opening the window that was closest to me.

"You should clap the erasers near the window, Aoki. Otherwise you may develop an allergy due to the excess exposure of the chalk dust." Minamino explained, plainly. I walked over to him and the window.

I spoke as I continued to clap the erasers close to outside of the window. "Thank you, Minamino. Umm…"

"Do you need help Aoki?" He asked me with his composed expression. I wondered what would be going through his mind. I shook my head and decided to dismiss that thought. The head shake was also the answer to Minamino's question.

"No. I'm doing the last few now. But…" Muffled clap, clap went the erasers. "I want to thank you also for being nice to Mayu-chan. She can be shy when she's outside of gym." I lowered my eyelids to prevent my eyes to be penetrated by chalk dust.

"I have taken note." He reflected, "I was used to her competitive side that her personality this morning was unexpected."

After a couple of claps, I opened my eyes. Minamino's expression became thoughtful. Then his lips smiled. "Have a good day, Aoki." He turned his heel to walk out of the classroom. I didn't know what possessed me, but I stopped him for a moment: "Minamino." His head rotated back to me.

"Hm?"

The next words that came out of my mouth were not my own. "Is there something in your mind?" There was something his expression from before that just made me impulsively ask. I guess it has to do about the thing called "instinct" that uncle loved to talk about.

A light chuckle came from him. "I have nothing in mind." Just as soon as he responded, I told him as heat had risen to my cheeks: "Good day!"

"Yes… Have a good day and take care." I imagined an enigmatic smile since I couldn't look at him anymore. When he left the classroom, I couldn't help to continue to think that something was missing. Something was out of place. I shook my head once more, returned to the physical world and shut the window.

Soon, all of those feelings shifted to the next memory…

The black flame. The black flame filled with its hallowed white. The seized, bloodied ghost. It was after my life once again.

Something else happened that I wasn't able to recall before: my own, harsh scream.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

My body had risen up from the comfortable sheets and mattress that Kuwabara-san had lent me. My breathing was uneven and shallow. Sweat damped my forehead and the ends of my scalp. My heart sounded so damn loud in my ears… I heard the switch which brought light back in the room.

"Are you alright?" I wasn't able to move from my position, my breathing was slowly becoming back to normal. I couldn't tell who was grasping my shoulders and checking me.

"Kazuma, go get a cold wet towel. _Now._" The voice ordered.

The hands that grasped me before was gently putting me down back on the pillow. What I could only guess was seconds; there was something cold and wet on my forehead. "Haruna-chan, just breath. Little by little." The voice was in control and my breathing began to slow. When I re-focused my vision, there was a worried Seiichi watching from above me. I turned my head and it was Shizuru-san that was holding the cold towel over my forehead. Kuwabara-san was watching over her shoulder, since she was kneeled down on the floor. His expression wasn't too different from Seiichi's.

Shizuru-san breathed out slightly in relief, "Her color is coming back."

"Are you okay, Aoki-chan?" Kuwabara-san asked, worriedly.

"I-I think so." I managed to whisper.

"You were having a panic attack. That must've been one hell of a nightmare." Her calmness was soothing as she patted the cold towel over my head.

"What time is it?" I still haven't been able to manage to rise to my normal tone.

Kuwabara-san answered, "It's only around 9 pm. You've had been sleeping for a while." Last time I recalled, the sun was still up.

I made a smile and told the Kuwabara siblings, "I think I overstayed my welcome. I should get going."

When Shizuru-san removed the towel from my head, she stood over me. "Kazuma told me what he heard from Botan-chan. We were to keep an eye out. So, I'm guessing you're doing something dangerous?" Her question left a merciless taste. When she wants answers, she went right to the heart of it.

I froze. I then untied my hair to start fixing it. I could imagine the mess it must look like right now. "You can say that. I told Koenma-sama that I would help with a small issue. Small issues from the Reikai weren't always safe and sound." I tied my hair in a centered low ponytail now. "It's fine. I might've collapsed but I should be able to continue what I needed to do."

After being able to convince the reluctant feelings from them, I acquired the bag I had with me and made my way out the door. As I walked in the setting of night—streets lamps a lit, people doing any nocturnal habits they had, a stray cat running to get away with it's meal…

"Kuwabara-san is human, isn't he? That could've been the spirit detective's partner that you mentioned." Seiichi floated right next me, nodded, then his face lit up. And right at that moment, I heard running coming the direction that I came from. It was Kuwabara-san!

He halted his running when he came up to me as he took a moment to breath. He had put on a blue t-shirt and a yellow windbreaker jacket. "I almost forgot that I was supposed to…meet up with you and Urameshi!"

"Ah, that's right!"

Kuwabara-san, being his height, had his vision focused behind me. "Urameshi!"

"Huh?" I turned around to see what the orange-colored head was seeing. It was another boy. He was closer to my height than Kuwabara-san was; he had a lanker body compared to the former. The boy wore a black jacket, white t-shirt and jeans. His sneakers were nothing special. In the dark, I could tell that his eyes were big and brown, but not big enough to be considered as childish. His hair was swept back with gel. He reminded me of one of those gangster punks from my old middle school. But there was something…lively about him. I felt his aura for sure.

The boy that Kuwabara-san called 'Urameshi' had an amused expression on his face, "Did the plans change again?"

Seiichi stood next to me, examining the new boy. He smirked, "Definitely someone the prince would have work under him… His aura," he mused, "how strange it is."

"_Strange?_" I thought with interest, "_I am pretty sure that he cannot be a yokai. His aura doesn't tell me that but…Seiichi is right. The wavelength of his aura is strange_."

Kuwabara-san walked to the other side of me, my left, and greeted the gangster punk. "You came. Aoki-chan here wasn't feeling well when I found her at the arcade."

"Aoki, huh?" he asked.

I carefully smiled, "My name is Aoki Haruna." I bowed for a few seconds. "Are you the detective Koenma-sama employed?"

"Eh, yeah, but…"

I faced him patiently, waiting for his response.

"You're really formal." He said in a blasé way, "Koenma-_sama_? That pacifier sucking."

I leered at him, "What do you mean?"

"There is no point in giving that kid such a title. If you see him work half of the time, you would know how much he doesn't deserve it." He rubbed the back of his head, "To think Kuwabara and I have to babysit you."

It seemed that Kuwabara-san was just as surprised as was because he had reacted with the same confused face as mine. Yet, unlike me, Kuwabara-san didn't lose his words.

Kuwabara-san crossed his arms, "Urameshi…what are you talking about?"

Urameshi-san sighed, "Look, I wasn't paying much attention to what Botan was tellin' me about her. I thought about it after you called me." Urameshi-san forced a grin at me, "We are watching over you, therefore, _babysitting_."

"Hey," Kuwabara-san intercepted, "its better what we had to deal with this past week!"

"I'm not so sure about that…" Yusuke's comment ended off in a murmur.

It was Kuwabara-san's turn to sigh. "You're unbelievable. We get an easy job and you're about to start a fit."

Yusuke's eyebrow made a light twitch as he stared his companion down. "Don't start with me Kuwabara."

I couldn't take their talk anymore. "Enough!" The two of them stopped their banter and looked fixedly at me with surprise. I kept talking.

"If you two are 'babysitting' me, then you are doing a bad job of it. After thinking over what Koenma-sama told me, I can't disagree what you are saying. But since…" I took a breath to continue, "my first mission is based on something that I have to do for a living at some point; a little extra help or hawk eyes wouldn't hurt."

There was a brief silence. Then Urameshi-san broke it.

"Alright. We'll stick with you for two hours, like we were told, Haruna." Urameshi-san told me dutifully.

My whole stiffened by the sound of him referring to me by my first name.

"Oh and Haruna…how were you going to refer me as?"

"Umm, Urameshi-sa—"

"Hold it— My first name is Yusuke. Use that." Ura- Yusuke-san grinned.

I decided on nodding in understanding as a response. Kuwabara-san's reaction to my formality did not bother him, thankfully. Sometimes I felt like damning my upraising because teenagers usually didn't talk like I did when it came to their own age group. But, because of the discipline I had to go through since I was kid, it became a permanent stamp into my personality. I eased on my formality if it was among friends or knew someone long enough. "Long enough" to me would be considered as years. I supposed it was because I did not have a wide array of friends to think or be conscious of such things. I clasped my hands behind my back, my legs began to move. Before I went on a walking pace, I told them: "The ghost with me is named Seiichi. If by chance you can see or feel him, he looks like a feudal samurai. He's harmless."

Koenma-sama just doesn't associate with _normal_ humans. They better be decent babysitters, then. Seiichi smiled broadly next to me. I knew what he was thinking. How long had it been since I socialized with humans outside of school?

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

**A/N**: I have returned! For the people who have been keeping up with this fic so far, I'm sorry for the delay. College rolled in again and I am behind in computer work (ex: emails, writings, etc). I have many emails waiting for me to respond to... Hopefully I can get to it by this week. Not only college but life as I know it is still being unpredictable. You know how family and professors could be, right?

Now about the chapter...I decided on having the character refer to each other as they do in Japanese, for the most part, compared to English. [Example: Kuwabara refers to Botan as "Botan-chan."] And if it wasn't already obvious to the new direction, then this chapter should do it since she meets Shizuru early on compared to later. What does the development with this chapter tell you? So far I have been getting good feedback but sometimes I feel I'm lacking something when I post each chapter...even after I edit and revise. I apologize for this chapter being shorter than the other two...but it felt right to end it here for the chapter. Sometimes the chapters are going to be long-ish or short-ish, like this one.

Ah, something to keep in mind to the reader about Haruna's formal attitude. There is a good reason and origin of it. As the chapters go by, there would be more to observe about it. Its a minor thing compared to everything else but keep it in mind if you feel "into" the story. And I have one more thing to clarify: she is going to meet Hiei. _Eventually_. Its going to be a little strange but it happening is all that matters, right?

Rate and review! :) I know some people can't leave a review due to the fact they reviewed the former chapter 3. So, messages or awaiting chapter 4 and reviewing under that chapter is fine by me~


	4. Restraints and Links

**Restraints and Links**

_Secrets seeking cracks,_

_Unknown in shackles and clue. _

_Shadows are deceit. _

The Tokyo lights were bright as ever and there were people surrounding us in droves. Kuwabara-san and Yusuke-san followed by my rear as I asked because I'm attempting to focus on any unnatural wavelengths of the ghosts that are possibly close by. One of my abilities that allowed me to communicate with ghosts was that my _ki_ accuracy to wavelengths. Every ghost, person, or demon has a wavelength when _ki_ was considered. But my accuracy accounted towards ghosts more than anything. Do not rely on me for humans and demons. Yusuke-san was a lucky case but for the most part, I have trouble figuring _reiki_ and _youki_ in precision. On why, Uncle and I haven't been able to figure that out yet. It's a gloomy thought when you felt that ghosts made more sense to you compared to people.

Not too long ago we passed by the arcade and its alley. I heard Kuwabara-san bringing up Yusuke-san up to speed about it. Afterwards, I didn't pay attention to his take on it since I went back to being "useful."

Passing by a department store, I halted.

"Is something wrong, Aoki-chan?" Kuwabara-san asked from behind me. The two boys stopped a few steps behind me. We were close to another alley. Yes, the stereotype of ghosts liking dark places would be true. There had been exceptions but not with this one.

I turned to them. "I should check the alley. Something is," I darted my eyes to the unholy path, "off."

Yusuke-san focused on his surroundings for a brief moment, "Really? I'm not getting anything. Feels like any crappy alley." Kuwabara-san crossed his arms over his shoulders and closed his eyes, meditating on Yusuke-san's words.

"Yeah, same here." He and I knew for a fact that didn't mean anything but since Yusuke-san was oblivious, going along with it seemed liked the best way to go.

I made a small smile. "Let me check it out. I won't take long. You can hang back here and if I start screaming, well, you know what you have to do."

Thinking of Yusuke-san and Kuwabara-san standing near alley and the way they could look to people, someone could think a gang-related situation was going on. Therefore, it leads to people to walk away, ignoring us. I wondered if Koenma-sama had taken that to consideration too. Seiichi was drifting next to me.

"I think the one here hasn't been touched yet by any black magic." He commented on the atmosphere. I made a nod.

"But why does it feel something is off, though?"

I walked as Seiichi followed to the end of the alley, where there was a ghost hunched over in a corner next to a dumpster. There was no reason to go into spirit mode as I would like to call it; akin to we did back the arcade alley. By instinct, I was cautious.

I went over to the hunch over ghost and crouched down in front of it. It was another male.

"Is everything okay? Why are you sitting down here by yourself?" I asked him. His head lifted up. He widened his dark brown eyes; his black eyebrows lifted. His hair was a bowel-cut and he couldn't have looked older than 20. What was with this growing ghost population of young adults?

He blinked once before responding: "You can see me?"

I pointed to the poltergeist behind me, "You see him?" The male ghost made a slow nod as Seiichi made a curt bow.

"He's with me." I carefully smiled, "I'm a spiritual medium of sorts. I don't think you should call me that, but you can think of me as such. My name is Aoki Haruna and the samurai behind me is Seiichi."

The male ghost's eyes became neutral, "I see…"

"Do you have a name?" I asked.

His expression was unchanged. "I don't remember."

"_So he's a new arrival…_" I thought. "Its fine but—"

"No, its not." I held on to my comment and gave him the expression to continue from what he was thinking.

"All I know is that my brother is gone... What could I possibly do with myself as a ghost? It's miserable."

I nodded in comprehension. I am not very good in showing sympathy so I hoped me listening and responding would prove my sincerity. "You have to find a resolution. Your soul is conflicted to what it wants."

"Does that go for all ghosts?" he inquired, numbly.

"Usually. But depending on the circumstances, it shouldn't take very long for a decision to be made for you."

"But I don't want to go anywhere. Heaven or Hell, what does it matter? Some of us had been feeling the same way."

I stared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Isn't it normal for us to be a gloomy bunch, Aoki-san? To not go anywhere?"

My voice toned serious, "No," I said, "not at all. Some peoples' spirits does end up gloomy, but to have the feelings of not going anywhere? All ghosts must go somewhere at some point."

"I feel so tired...Aoki-san… Very tired." A spiritual being that feels human fatigue. I didn't like the sound of that. He was a new arrival. I definitely had to note that.

"Why?" I asked softly, "Why do you feel tired?"

"My heartstrings…" He said no more as he burrowed his head in fetal form. He went to sleep. Ghosts were not supposed to actually sleep. But this one was. I noticed his breathing as slow as it could be. Gradually, purple chains surrounded the ghost's ankles and wrists in the form of bonds. I knew from there that he wouldn't be able to move. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to remove them on my own. Only an expert spiritualist, like my uncle would know how to do it.

Heartstrings…

Were Seiichi and I wrong about the absence of the black magic? We don't feel it but we can clearly see it.  
><strong>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

When I came back to the guys from the alley, they greeted me.

"Did you find anything?" Yusuke-san asked simply.

"I need Botan-san."

Kuwabara-san asked from beside Yusuke-san, "What for?"

"I'm pretty sure there was something she overlooked. I need to ask her something. _Tonight._" The two boys looked at each other. They weren't sure how to contact her directly either?

"Don't you still have that mirror thing, Urameshi?"

Yusuke-san looked up as he was recollecting his memory, "Yeah, but don't you remember that Botan's broke? It's like a walkie-talkie."

"She could've gotten it fixed."

I crossed my arms around my chest, "If you two do not have a way of contacting for her, we're finished here."

"That was it?" Yusuke-san exclaimed, "Then what was the point of following you?"

My eyes wandered back to alley, "Koenma-sama was right to think that this mission could lead to danger. But I don't think he believed it would be a hazard for you two. You are not involved. The spirit detective isn't called upon on every issue, Yusuke-san." I looked back at him as he had left palm holding his right elbow; his thumb grazed his lip.

"I don't know if I should feel relieved," he turned his heel, indicating for him to be the new leader, "let's walk back. We passed by my apartment."

When we were walking back, Kuwabara-san asked me what I found in the alley and I told him that there was just a sick ghost. I also explained to him there might be some manipulation going on. I gently pressed him to not worry about it and joked that Koenma-sama might have something else more important in store for them later in the future. Yusuke-san grunted, "Hah!"

By the time we reached the building the Yusuke-san lived in, Kuwabara-san and I waited in the lobby for him to fetch this 'mirror' thing they were talking about. Seiichi leaned against the wall across from us, quiet.

"What's wrong?" I asked to the being across from me. Kuwabara-san looked down at me.

"Who you're asking?"

I gazed up at him and made an apologetic face, "Seiichi."

"When my spiritual awareness comes back, I wouldn't have to ask. What's up with him?" His eyes glanced ahead like I did at Seiichi even though he couldn't see or tell that he was there.

"I'm wondering what Nobu could've found out by now," he said, in a monotone voice, "Until I know, I don't think I could get rid of this feeling."

"What is the feeling?"

He sighed, "This defiant yet sad feeling. I think that fresh ghost rubbed off on me."

I closed my eyes. "It's natural to be empathic." I elbowed Kuwabara-san gently, "He's only feeling a little under the weather."

"I didn't think there was so much to them. Ghosts, I mean." Kuwabara-san said with something that sounded like sympathy behind his voice.

"Normally, there isn't. Seiichi is a special case and what is going on now…well, I can only find out from Botan-san."

Rushed steps came closer to ear-shot as Yusuke-san made it down to the lobby. He paused for a minute and turned his head to the right, where Seiichi was. "So ghost boy is there."

Seiichi immediately stared at Yusuke-san. "That's ghost_ man_ to you." Then Yusuke-san face Kuwabara-san, "He doesn't make you feel weird, does he?"

The orange haired teen held his head high, "He's cool. He doesn't seem like a threat to me."

"Right." Yusuke-san walked over to me and handed me something that appeared to me a compact mirror. I brushed some hair off my forehead.

"My hair is that messy, Yusuke-san?"

He smirked, "It's the communicator. If Botan fixed hers, it should work." I took the deceivable device into my hands and opened it. I figured which button would start the communication signals; at first there was fuzz until there was a girl's face that appeared on the mirror screen. She had bright blue hair and big pinkish eyes. She had a surprised expression; it quickly became angry.

"So Yusuke did lie about losing it!" Botan-san's eyebrows furrowed. I stared up at Yusuke-san.

"You lied to Botan-san?"

"Hi, Botan-chan!" Kuwabara-san greeted to the mirror compact.

Yusuke-san crossed his arms over his chest, then he turned his head away, "I don't know what she's talking about."

Botan-san grumbled. She sighed, probably realizing that whatever happened between them and this 'mirror' situation was going to find no solution at this moment.

"Botan-san, could I come to Spirit World?"

Her expression became curious, "What ever for? Did you find something?"

"I think I found a way to narrow down some suspects about this odd situation. The info I need to look at is at Spirit World, in your section, Botan-san. You shinigami had probably missed something."

"Are you sure Haruna-chan?" she asked with a bit of anxiety behind her voice.

"I bet its something small." I told her.

The pink-haired head grim reaper took out a small book from the left sleeve of her kimono. With her free hand, she used her thumb to flip through the pages. "How does Wednesday sound?"

I confirmed with a nod.

The night came to an end with a short spat between Botan-san and Yusuke-san; afterwards we went to our homes.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

"Seems like Nobu is still looking for possible hideouts."

It was Sunday in the afternoon and uncle had still not returned from wherever he was. This was nothing. I have stayed home alone for a week if the missions he was doing were taking him some time. The job of an exorcist was never certain and neither was living with one.

I was in my room doing homework for the week. I pace myself with homework and do some each day. But yesterday, I did nothing that was homework related. I had a bit of extra work to get through. At the moment, I was in the process of Japanese History.

"Haruna that is the wrong period. That happened during the Azuchi-Momoyama period not the Edo." Seiichi kindly corrected me as he looked over my shoulder.

Would it surprise you that my best grades in Meio High were in History? I would always get an A in every quiz and test on the subject. Expect one time. One time, I did get a B and that was because I was half asleep while taking the test. My secret to that was Seiichi. No, no, he never helped me cheat and apparently he agrees with me on that too. Though, if I ever had a wrong answer, he was slightly frantic about it and calls me an idiot. Anyway, he somewhat tutors me. He has an amazing memory and he knew a great deal of any time period through Japan's history. He can tell me who was the emperor, the years he ran, his politics and when he passed away. He is a complete expert on the Meiji period because that was the period he was alive. Seiichi knew things that the textbooks didn't.

"The Azuchi-Momoyama period was a definite time for the samurai under Hideyoshi's reign. But you know, my grandfather once told me that Hideyoshi had hated sweets." Seiichi mused, fondly recalling his memory.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

Monday morning arrived and I carried on with my routine. Uncle has not returned yet.

On the way to school, Seiichi said, "Something doesn't feel right around here…"

I took a moment to step back and write to him in my "ghost communicator" in my simplified hiragana: "I fe-el it too. Its diff-er-rent from las-t nigh-t."

We were about a block away from Meio now. Seiichi made a stop. "Nobu should be returning today. Have a good day, Haruna-chan~" I facially dead-panned before I sensed his spirit leaving my presence. He recovered fast! It must be the male bravado he died with.

I raced up the stairs as I started another Monday morning in Meio High.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

Lunch time came and all I had was melon bread that I brought from home. But then again, I was hardly the "lunch prepared" type. After steeping out of the classroom for a couple of moments, I went back inside and with my bread in my hands; I snuck up to Mayu-chan who was eating her lunch while reading one of our class textbooks. Perfect, she was distracted. Lightly, I pushed the book in front of her face with my index finger. In response, I received a yelp from her, and in exchange a smile from me.

"Studying, are you?"

She breathed out a huff to recover from her moment of excitement, "Yes, and you should be too Haruna-chan!"

My face was blank from all humor, "What?"

"I'm studying my chemistry lab because we might have a quiz today."

I glared at her as her retort was a blink. She answered my unspoken question, "Sensei said so on Saturday. She said she might."

"Kuso, hontoni (damn, really)?" I barely studied Chem on Sunday. I was distracted with everything else. "What did we have to know?"

"The sections on the periodic table and some of the elements we went over." Mayu explained.

Yup, I'm screwed.

"Study with me before the history teacher comes!"

I sat at my seat behind her as she trusted herself to work with me. Chem was so damn complicated for me. Luckily, I had about 30 minutes to review what I had to. Why can't we just have math equations and be done with it? But no, chemistry requires you to understand scientific concepts in order to use the mathematics. What's worse was I didn't have the best memory of certain compounds when we have lab. Good thing Mayu-chan understands it better than I did. Otherwise, I would be the failure of a student who blew up the Chem lab in Meioh High.

Ah, I could just see it now:

I mix one wrong component I would create the equivalent a low level bomb and blow up everything around me and would be responsible and had to run for life in case I endangered someone else's. I would have to change schools, my identity and my name so I wouldn't be rejected or suspected… What's funny about that was if the bomb scenario happened, the aftermath would be very much possible.

The Aoki Haruna's rule one: Don't have me interact with chemicals or anything over technical alone or too often. I would miraculously hurt or destroy something.

During my focus on the relevance of atomic mass and numbers, my acute hearing caught a conversation that was going on behind me. I turned my head discreetly, for, the conversation involved a familiar voice. Minamino Shuichi.

Two female students from our class were conversing with him by his left from the desk he was seated. I recognized one of the girls to be from my track club. Her family name was Chiko. The other I wasn't certain about her name. I'm horrible in being a good social student, so bare with me:

It wasn't the conversation that was making my gaze linger; there was something odd on one of the girl's shoulders. I narrowed my eyes to be sure that my vision wasn't deceiving me; it was a bug! The student was shyly (from appearances, hell would know what she thinking in her head) gushing over Minamino while a sizable bug sat on her shoulder. Didn't she feel it? The bug was bigger than your average butterfly or a beetle. I continued to observe the abnormal bug… At the corner of my eye, Minamino pointed carefully as if someone was coming in from the back door, the students motioned their heads to the doorway and then— I wasn't sure what exactly happened. I blinked once; Minamino's hand had grasped the strange bug from the girl's shoulder— swiftly— afterward, returned to neutral. The speed wasn't typical athletic reflexes— what I mentioned before was of the bug grab was an afterimage. I shook my head, I knew Minamino was one of our best athletes but I have never seen him display anything like that. I was sure the bug was dead in his hand and the students took his directing to the door as a joke (since no one entered and they chuckled).

"Haruna-chan, how many protons are in zinc?"

Distracted, I murmured, "17."

"Its 30." Mayu-chan corrected me.

I looked at my chemistry book and that number was correct.

"You were so wrong." Mayu-chan flicked my forehead with her mechanical pencil.

I rubbed my attacked forehead. "Oi. I'm paying attention, I'm paying attention."

Minamino Shuichi…should I be grateful that you killed an insect that could've hurt Chiko? Are you a martial artist keeping secrets? At that moment, my study partner brought me out from my wandering thoughts of our redheaded classmate.

"Haruna-chan, did you see your grade on the board yet? They're posted!"

I groaned, "Mayu-chan… Don't remind me about grades." I placed my hand behind my head to bend my head towards my sternum.

"I saw them earlier and it looks like Minamino was the top score once again and Kaito the second. We must have the best average with those two in our class." She beamed.

"Huh, who was the third placed student?" I asked in feigned curiosity. Didn't I tell you that I wasn't the best student?

"Oh, some guy from 2-B. I think his name was Mitsui." Mayu-chan recalled.

"Hmm…"

As I go back to study of the existence of atoms, I thought Mitsui's class was fortunate. Having top-notch geniuses in our class can sometimes become overly dramatic for the everyday high school student.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

Afternoon track practice started. I was changed into my track uniform and was happy this time of the day came. The chem quiz left me in poor spirits. Pun unattended.

"Start your 15 laps!" The sensei yelled then blew her whistle. We were encouraged to pace ourselves, but we were also told to try to go faster in comparison with the last. To constantly push ourselves.

When I checked into the locker room to change my clothes, the school clock pointed to 4:30pm. I paused. I heard some yelling coming from the 1st floor. My hearing was a little more defined in contrast than the average person but, this yelling was loud enough for anyone; dead or alive on school grounds.

I stepped into the hallway. The voice was loud and it was becoming familiar to me. I wasn't sure who, though. I clearly heard the name "Kurama" called several times. Why was the voice calling out a mountain? Or was it a name of a person?

I walked quickly to turn by a corner and saw a recognizable orange pompadour and a girl with blue hair in a raised ponytail. I hugged the wall as I watched them look through the window of what I knew was the biology lab.

"_Botan-san…! Kuwabara-san…! Why are they even here?_"

My inner thoughts stopped when Kuwabara-san broke the lab door down with a forceful, yet seemed effortless, push of his foot. I covered my mouth to my surprised yelp. "_And defacing school property? What is the urgency? _" I hesitated to whether I should check into the biology lab or run home. Do I become a spy or go home to my uncle?

Before I made a conscious choice, the voice coming from the inhabitants of the lab where vibrating clearly to me. I heard the bio club students, Kuwabara-san's brash voice, and Botan-san's energy-induced responses and one more: the calm and rational voice of Minamino Shuichi. My immediate thought was how these _three_ even knew each other?

Botan-san was a perky grim reaper and who knows of all the people she encountered in her…um, life? What do you call the span of time when you are taking about a grim reaper? Anyway…subsequently there was Kuwabara-san…I only met him recently with Yusuke-san. How could someone like Kuwabara-san know Minamino? What could they possibly have in common to be acquaintances? To be familiar with each other? Wait— Was he involved with Yusuke-san and Kuwabara-san too?

Before I could allow my thoughts to travel any further, I covered my mouth to prevent myself from a shout, a gasp or a whisper. I dared to not make a sound. I had enough blood flowing in my head to discover what the pieces allowed to place together.

I ran down the hall, quickly and quietly exchanged my indoor shoes for the outdoor ones and continued on my sprint.

"That's the spirit, Haruna-san!" I heard one my club mates calling out to me. Oh yeah, I'm from the track club. That fact was beyond me and I didn't respond to the misunderstood cheer. I ran out of the school ground.

I was running for probably a mindless 10 minutes.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

**I finally had the time to get back to this! I know its been quite a while since I updated. College is over for the semester and therefore, I can update in better time fragments. College did indeed took over my life for a while. **

**Now, if it wasn't obvious already by this chapter, I am beginning my story within the Chapter Black Saga. It's for a silly reason and that would be that this is my favorite arc. Also, in my personal yyh fanfiction reading experience, this arc is not always used well in a story or not at all. Actually, these days, fans write based on the aftermath, which those tend to be the best. Though, I have read ones that was within the canon story line that works very well too. I am not going to do a full re-telling of the _entire_ arc. That's extra and actually, boring work. I'm sure all of you know what happens. With this story, its going to have two stories that eventually intersect with each other. Therefore, Haruna and Seiichi's story is not entirely dependent on the canon one. You can call it an interdependence...or a meshing. Whatever sounds closest to what I'm trying to say. **

**And a bit of info on the chapter... I did want to make sure that my oc, Aoki Haruna is not a total airhead, haha. She just have smarts in some areas (and lacking in others) and which eventually, can lead to situations that aren't ideal. Also, since I did intend to make this story of the mystery type, I hope I can use the conventions of a mystery in the best way I could for this story. Did you like the "Aoki rules"? **

**One more thing: Mitsui was the name I took from the manga when the panel showed the score boards. His name was the 3rd highest grade. Everything I else after that, I made up. I also made up about Hideyoshi hating sweets. I don't know that for sure, but since he had negative feelings for western influences, I would take him as the kind of guy that would reject the western import: sugar. This won't be the last time I would have Seiichi talk about Japanese History, therefore, some will be true and some be complete fiction. If I make a mistake on the actual history, just let me know. I am going to try to give the most accurate info. :) **


	5. Eerie House Plans

**Eerie House Plans**

_Unpredictable,_

_In lest, in a plot, a clue._

_Learn to look deeper._

"Turn left and on the next block…now go on and make another left. Go straight, cross the street then your final turn is a right." Seiichi was guiding me and knew it was not a good time to ask why all of the sudden his human guardian was suddenly running like she was in a marathon. She was also not pacing herself either to be bothered or to be asked.

I took the directions my samurai poltergeist voiced to me. My pace didn't slow down.

After running for probably an extra 20 minutes, I finally started to taking in breath. What the directions had led me to was an absolutely deranged house. The air was creepy and ominous. Not enough to have me shiver in my school socks, though. I actually felt no danger emitting from it. It was just…creepy. I looked to my left, still catching my breath and this gave cue for the ghost to start explaining himself.

"Nobu-san had returned." I nodded to the news so he would continue. "When he returned and met with me, he gave me a message to give to you. It was a request: Give Master Genkai a hand at this place inTokyo. I already suggested the idea to her and she will be expecting to meet her there by the time she leaves club. It may be amusing for her. As well it underlies importance. Go to her when she leaves school grounds."

"Ma-master…!" I took a deep breath to be able to speak coherently. "Master Genkai!" I breathed out.

Seiichi lit up a thought, "Oh. You were also supposed to go inside from the back door of this…" he glanced at the deranged hovel, "place."

We moved ourselves to the back door; the door itself would be the style you would find in an amusement park's haunted house. I walked to it and to my surprise, it was open. It was dark but one thing that I lacked was fear of the dark. But just in case…my hands lit up with my blue spiritual energy and I allowed that to guide me through the hall. After about a 7 minute walk, there alas, was another door. I love doors. I was expectantly pleasant when I found it was open.

Through it was a dimly lit room, with a light bulb above the middle of the room and the corners are lit by candles on standing wicks. There was a working desk that had five screens placed neatly so one would able to observe the happenings of the screens almost accurately without missing anything important. Hopefully you were swift on your surroundings and how your eyes could observe. What also happened to be the case that the person looking at these screens would be the least likely person to need the cameras.

"You didn't have to run here once you got the message Haruna." Master Genkai was several older than my uncle. But when you looked at her, her hard demeanor, you probably wouldn't suspect it. She was a martial artist too by the red and green lining martial arts clothing she wore. Another quality you wouldn't suspect from her was that she was a short woman. Somewhere around 150cm. Let none of that fool you; she's very strong. I noticed something had changed about her, something you wouldn't be able to see physically. I didn't want to dwell on it now and decided to ask on a more appropriate time. She had graying hair touching her shoulders and brown eyes that had seen nothing of an innocent lifetime.

I bowed deeply. "It was a complete coincidence that I ran here, Master Genkai."

"Something spooked you and your body reacted by going on a mock 30-yard sprint." She rationalized, unbothered as she was working the screens. "Go fix the camera at the second floor." I straightened myself and glanced at the camera she was talking about; it was off-centered. Master Genkai tapped at the floor with her foot then she explained, "Do not go through the stairs while you are in the house. There is a hatch door in this room to through the basement. The second line of stairs you see are going to lead you to another hatch door to the second floor. Questions? Other than what the hell is going on?"

I shook my head even though she didn't see me. "No, Master Genkai."

**X**

Aoki Haruna rule number two: Despite my upbringing, I don't respect everyone. And how I interact with others may seem like respect but really, it's an automatic tool.

I felt it was the right time to display the second rule because of Master Genkai. Believe it or not, I don't call every top-notch martial artist "master." Sensei was a maybe if I felt the individual deserves it. The only time when I have to give a title by default was when it deals with fitting into society. For an example: a teacher from my school. It wouldn't be socially correct to not call them "sensei." And it wouldn't matter if I had personal emotions for him or her.

Master Genkai was not only an acquaintance of my uncle— she was to be respected as well. I have my own variation of a reason why. Let's leave that story for another time.

As of right now, I'm going through a pitch black basement with the spiritual lights on my hand alit and guiding me. I'm trying my best to not be a klutz. The left hand brushed past the first stairway. There I knew the second was coming up. In less than 3 minutes, it did.

There were no side bars or handles on the stairs. They were also made of wood and they creaked with age.

"Don't break the stairs and fall on your ass, Haruna." Seiichi advised, plainly. I decided on proving him wrong by easily doing the opposite. I made it to the top and felt a handle on the ceiling. I gave it a decent push to find myself in a room that was much more brightly lit than the former one I was in.

The room, actually, wasn't as strange looking as the house from the outside. But it still gave me an eccentric vibe.

"Who's there? Master Genkai?" I heard a young male's voice from the wall to my right in the room I ended up in. There was a door at that wall too. It scraped the floor lightly as it was familiarly being pushed for entry. I turned my head to a humanly possible 180 degree angle and gave Seiichi a glare. _Were we forgetting something? Huh, Seiichi?_

"Why are you—Oh. Master Genkai has some unusual psychics with her." He answered me as it was the most common thing in the world. How common for him to withhold information from me that would've been nice to have before hand.

"Hey… is something wrong?" I shifted my head to the source of the voice. He had tall, wide hair that stiffened in place by some sort of hair substance that I wouldn't know the name of. His hair was a typical black tinted with a grey blue color. His blue uniform over coat uniform layered over a buttoned down shirt told me that he was in Jr. High, but I had forgotten which school. I'm sure I would recognize a connection between the uniform and school if I remembered the name. His height was similar to that of Kuwabara-san's but his hair gave him the superficial edge in comparison. He was almost just as broad too but lacked the muscle.

I smiled. "Nothing. I came to help Master Genkai. She wanted me arrange a camera in this room."

"Oh. That. I think she probably meant the one behind you." I turned around and looked up to the corner of where the wall and ceiling meet. I saw the camera in question.

"Well, Seiichi? Go fix it." I said, without a glance at him. He nodded.

"What?" I heard the teen gasped when he suddenly saw the camera being tilted to a centered focal point. "What did you do— Who's here?" The taller teen's body became cautious.

"_Hold on. Seiichi mentioned they were psychics? Unusual ones?_" I spoke: "Don't be afraid. Just use your power."

I felt my heart stop for a second once the area changed. Physically, nothing happened. Spiritually, something did. I stared at the teen. "What did you do?"

"I opened my territory. I did exactly what you told me to." His eyes glanced to the ceiling. They widened to the sight of the ghost samurai doing a handyman's simple task.

Seiichi finished fixing the camera. "That should do it." Then, his flying form moved to in front to size up his watcher. Seiichi's hazel eyes perked up in amusement.

"He's totally different from the insects from outside." Seiichi form staggered to the insulting comment from the broad haired guy. He moved closer to the teen, but kept some distance from him in the air.

"Kid, I'm nowhere close to any of those bugs. Not very nice of you to lump me and a bunch of _yokai_ insects in the same breath. Hmm…" Seiichi told me some of the information on the way here about the sudden unusual insects that I have been spotting. There weren't many. I spotted at least 3 others plus the one Minamino killed. Koenma-sama will definitely be interrogated soon. For a moment, Seiichi was observing the guy intensely as if he was trying to figure out something. The teen stiffened under his gaze. Shortly, Seiichi switched attention from him to me.

"Haruna, he got this power recently. He's a greenhorn."

The door that the guy came from was opening again and who came out of it, well…let me tell you the easiest word to express: shocked.

"Yana, I'm done preparing the first room… Oh. What's this?" It was obvious from his voice that he's using his logic over emotion. If he was worried, he wasn't showing it. Maybe he wasn't. He was closer to my height and had black hair. On his face, his eyes were small, like Kuwabara-san's but not as slanted. He adored glasses to support his poor sight. The amazement of this particular boy to walk in now was that I knew him. He sported the same uniform as I was wearing now, minus the jacket. (I left that downstairs.) He's in the same class as me— Kaito Yuu.

It's impossible to forget him because when it came to the academia of our group, his scores were achingly close to those of Minamino. And one time, he did a lecture in our class based on literary theory in psychoanalysis. I was in awe but at the same time, at a loss because he used quite a bit of vocabulary of words that were in the college-level for me to keep up. I think Minamino, and maybe the sensei (I saw him glance down at a book during the lecture a few times), were the only the ones who coherently understood what he was talking about.

"Why, it isn't Aoki." The teen he calledYana, turned to him.

"You know her?" he asked.

"Same uniform, same school, same class section, if you call that knowing someone." He answered to his companion.

I closed my lightly gaped mouth. I made a detached smile, "Nice to see you too, Kaito."

"Master Genkai mentioned you would be coming for some background support."

"You can call it that." I know I'm here for a few alternative reasons too. Master Genkai knows a great deal of what my uncle does and how I can be used.

Kaito walked a few steps closer; he fixed his eyes on me. "We're very much done here. Were you aware what was supposed to happen here tonight?"

Before I could answer him, I felt an odd twitch on my left wrist. The reason was obvious.

"Yana-san was your name, right? Could you…_turn off_ your energy?" I asked, lightly.

"Oh. Right." He closed his eyes and in a couple of seconds, the energy field he opened had gone away.

"I was very much rushed here with little information."

Kaito shook his head once. "I will bring you up to speed briefly. We are to have some visitors here at 11:00 pm who are seeking a friend of theirs that we kidnapped—"

"_Kidnapped?_"

He held up a hand. "Remember, this was Genkai's plot. Don't worry, the kidnappee is her student. To our knowledge, he's safe. But to him and his friends, they are in terrible trouble." He face became contemplative, "Now…as for your position, you are going to be helpingYanawith one of his parts."

I looked to my temporary accomplice and nodded, "That's fine."

**X**

Night time was creeping closer, according to my internal clock. My body was conscious of time with decent accuracy. I went over with a third and fourth part of the plan with Yana-san. We were supposed to wait underneath one of the trap doors for one of the visiting guests. You see, there are 7 stairwells on the first floor that leads to the second but each one has a different stair schematic. The feeling of climbing each one would be an individual experience. Interestingly enough, from the trap doors perspective, the stairs are barely a meter apart.

Then Yana-san told me who were supposed to drag below and some of the events he was informing of were beginning to make sense and it gave me an unexplainable chill. He told me we had to drag down Kuwabara-san.

Yana-san wasn't sure if I knew who he was talking about until he saw my expression. It wasn't because of Kuwabara-san, I recovered from that quickly. My expression was based on knowing that Minamino would be one of the guests.

Suddenly, things were beginning to connect. He would also be aware of who I was before this circumstance. Also, I couldn't understand the concept of Minamino not being human. He's a…I can't even connect him and that damn _word._ _Youkai._

"_It's obvious that at this time, I can't trust you. You had put on such a convincing façade…Who are you Minamino?_"

In a flash, as if I was reminded by a 3rd party was what he did for our classmate Chiko. He made sure of her safety of a potential hazard, the Makai insect. Minamino protected her. The reason doesn't matter. The act alone proves that he has some form goodness somewhere within him.

"_In that case, I'll tolerate you._"

**X**

The 11th hour came and the guests were right on time. I was able to tell by hearing their footsteps from my location. If I wanted, I could've used my spirit energy to amp my hearing and try to figure out the voices. But Master Genkai told me beforehand to avoid using my spiritual energy when the guests were in the house. For any of them to sense my energy from underneath the house would ruin the plan. And Yana-san just left me for part 1 of it 15 minutes ago.

"You must be bored." Seiichi's presence in essence, however, could be easily blocked by the territories these psychics could make. Kaito opened his half an hour before the designated time for the visitors to arrive. His ability: taboo. Kaito was able to make an area that followed his rules and words. The current rule at the door was that no one could utter the word "hot" while in his territory.

I simply decided to not speak at all.

While Kaito's territory was open, Seiichi's spiritual energy was gone. He conceals it almost all the time but even I feel as if his energy just turned to gas or dust. However, being a "ghost medium" and being with Seiichi for quite some time, I know where he is with his spiritual energy or not. My bonds with ghosts seem to be eerily strong.

I gazed a lazy expression at my poltergeist companion. I was also told to not talk for the risk that someone we invited would end up hearing me. Our guests can be perceptive if allowed the chance. Facial expressions were another form of communication.

"Hmm, I wonder if you figured it out yet."

My eyes widen in interest. _What do you mean?_

"I'm sure you can figure out something about why Nobu sent you to Genkai to this game of hers."

The muscles on my face stiffen and I glared at him. _Does that mean you know something? I know there was importance to be found here but I haven't picked it out yet._

"Oh? You still don't see it, huh?" He nodded, "I'm sure you'll see it by the end of this."

I rolled my gray eyes. He may act like an idiot, but he can see significant bits and pieces a mile away. Emotionally, mentally, and physically… He'll find a weak or relevant point. Now I should try to mirror his technique for observation.

I pondered as about an hour passed by. Yana-san didn't come down yet. The guests were still under Kaito's company. I shrugged. There was no true danger.

Suddenly, I heard steady footsteps above me and this was the cue for Yana-san to be on his way down. In about 2 minutes, he came and showed me a 5 with his hands. Before the guests came, I numbered the stairways with paint that would light up in the dark. I knew how to bring down Kuwabara-san.

I walked over to one of the traps doors above me near a brick wall. I knocked the door three times. Then I opened it.

I felt sorry that Kuwabara-san had to be the victim. But when I saw how unaware he was of my presence when I appeared behind him as he struggled up the stairs—he was a perfect target. What placed him at a disadvantage was that his 6th sense was not in its normal state. It was gone.

Each stair way was created as a puzzle. The better your 6th sense, the easier time you may have walking up the stairs. You can see why Kuwabara- san was the candidate. Master Genkai knew about it.

Since Kuwabara-san wasn't too far away for me, I leaped behind him then I locked his right arm to his back and placed a hand that held a white, damp cloth over his mouth. He struggled but poorly. The medicine was taking its effect rapidly. In a minute, Kuwabara-san slumped down on the last step he took. The medicine was a unique kind of chloroform that it's potent enough to knock someone out right away but it won't put the victim in a long slumber. If Kuwabara-san was allowed to sleep it off, it would probably take him 2 hours to wake up on his own.

I heaved Kuwabara-san's heavy, sleeping body by my shoulders as I led him into the basement where Yana-san was ready to do his part.

What happened next almost made me scream. I would've if Yana-san hadn't warned strictly beforehand not to. He placed his hand over Kuwabara-san's shoulder and his face began to shape a mirror reflection of the teen below him. His shoulders became wider and his arms muscular. His height adjusted minimally. Yana-san was an exact clone of Kuwabara-san. I had to cover my mouth to prevent myself from screaming in the back of my throat. As Yana-san had to strip Kuwabra-san to his underpants, which I discovered were boxers, Master Genkai appeared in front of us. She was supposed to help me carry Kuwabara-san to the first floor which we simply use one of the staircases to the far left. Yana-san climbed up the stairs that Kuwabara-san attempted to climb. The rest was left to heavy lifting.

With the help of Master Genkai, taking Kuwabara-san up the stairs through a trap door leading to the first floor, and carrying to the other side of the house which was the 'normal' side, wasn't much of a challenge. We carried him to a bedroom that was across from the kitchen and next a bathroom. There are two bedrooms and several beds in each. We placed Kuwabara-san's body on one of the cotton-covered beds. He was asleep and looked like he could be dead to the world.

I watched his chest heave up and down as he breathed peacefully. Something felt strange. Abruptly, Genkai walked out of the room. I didn't notice until I checked behind me that the door was lightly ajar.

"His body doesn't seem to believe that it's in danger." Seiichi appeared next to me. He understood my skeptical expression.

"Maybe somewhere inside of himself he knew that he was under no threat? I think he knows Master Genkai."

"He does. He deeply trusts her. But…remember what he said before about his spiritual energy being gone? This reaction would be natural in his state."

I shook my head, "No. It's natural in a different way. His body is preparing for something far worse than what he experienced here. His body _knew_ that now wasn't the time." I watched Kuwabara's face thoughtfully as a kneeled by the side of his bed. "I faintly sense his wavelengths now. It's like a lurker in a cave… The lurker is planning so he would know how to approach what is beyond the cave. The lurker won't get out unless he was in complete danger."

"Not a bad interpretation of his energy." Genkai came back and she was by my side.

"Haruna… I think your powers are changing too." Seiichi whispered.

"The 6th sense between the two are of you are close in levels but you both have different purposes. Therein lies your empathy. Now," Genkai lifted up a small metal pail. "time to wake him up. He can sleep more later." She threw a splash of water at his face. The water did its job of awaking his nerves and human senses. Kuwabara-san was up and awake right away.

"Did I drown?" he breathed. His mouth dropped open and his small, slanted eyes widened; he realized he was stripped down to his boxers, but those feelings took a pause when he saw the faces of me and Master Genkai.

"Had a good nap?" Master Genkai said sarcastically.

Master Genkai gave him the facts of the entire set up: from the kidnapping, the 3 strange psychics, and the reason why he was in his boxers. He forgets about his physical position when his mind decided that what he was being told was more important.

We gathered ourselves to go to the 3rd floor.

**X**

I hid away behind the door that Master Genkai and Kuwabara-san used to enter the 3rd floor. I didn't want to be seen by anyone else who came into the house. What I did do was listen intensively through the hollow of the door and paid attention to the words that were being said. I recognized the voices of Master Genkai, Kuwabara-san, Minamino, Yusuke-san, Botan-san… I'm sure one of them Kido-san's even though I didn't talk to him since he was entertaining our kidnappee— Yusuke-san.

There was another voice it was deep and lacked emotion that I didn't know. Suddenly I also heard Koenma-sama's voice! The only that would be possible because Botan-san brought a communication device that connects to the Reikai. I listened closely and he was talking about a hole. A hole somewhere in the city…

"Haruna…" Seiichi spoke, "it's a hole that connects to the Makai and to the Ningenkai. This would be the perfect opportunity for people to die."

So our necromancer wants to take advantage over someone else's plot.

"We can go." Seiichi floated away from me to indicate to follow him.

I gathered my things from the room where I helped settled Kuwabara-san and took the basement route; the way I took when I came inside the house initially. With my school bag in one hand and my uniform jacket in the other, I allowed my hands to alit, just like before, to be to see my way out. I reached the door to the temporary, normal world of freedom.

I breathed in the night air. It was fresh and soothing when one had been surrounded by the scent of wood and musk for the last couple of hours.

The feeling of ease in my heart decided to exchange itself for the feeling of alertness. But by the second my eyes met the glint beauty of katana- I knew it was meant for meant for my erratic, beating heart.

**xXx**

**xXx**

**A/N**: I finally updated! I know I've released chapters in more time than this one. But still- I'm going to try to update more often. The maximum a month's time because there are some chapters that go through a lot more revising than others..

Hmm... I'm starting to like the relationship building between Haruna and Kuwabara ~ I think because of their spiritual-energy backgrounds and personalities, they have ways of relating. I don't know where that is going to lead but that's what writing is for- to find out!

Its a strange thing to say as a part of an a/n but I think the quality of the YYH stories are progressing to a positive end. Sure, there are going to be fics that we may have the impulse to groan at, but every week or so (perhaps its because its summer break and people have a little bit more time) there is something interesting to read. As a long time fan, I'm happy about that. ^^ This is an old anime but we have to keep it _alive. _I don't know about you readers and guests but YYH taught me life lessons that I still very much use today. And I'm sure its just as important as to the other fans.

I hope you all are enjoying the fic! I should be updating soon. The latest, by the end of the month.

To the reviewers: Thank you so much! I'm glad you are getting immerse into the story and find it something worth reading! Kurama and Haruna are going to confront each other _very_ soon. ;)


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